Through A Wringer

     When I was a little boy we used to have an old fashioned wringer washing machine. This was an early type of washing machine in which you had to hand feed the freshly washed clothes through a pair of moving rolling pins to squeeze the extra water out before drying. I often wondered how those clothes felt going through them. This curiosity was painfully ended one day when I was helping my Mom feed the clothes into them and got my own fingers caught instead. Needless to say, I was far more careful after that.

     Usually after we finished washing the clothes my Mom would hang them out on the clothes line to dry. I would hand her the wooden clothes pins as she hung them and help her fold the freshly dried clothes a few hours later. I can still remember how wonderful they smelled after warming in God's sunshine all afternoon. I would hold them up to my face and delight in their warmth, cleanness, and Heavenly scent.

     I know that sometimes it can feel as if life is putting us all though a wringer washer. The troubles and stresses of life always seem to want to squeeze and flatten every bit of peace and happiness out of us. Sometimes our whole day feels like my fingers did that time when I was a careless young boy. It is up to us, however, to not let ourselves stay flattened like an old, wet pair of pants. It is up to us to pick ourselves up and warm our hearts and souls again in the sunshine of God's love. It is up to us to choose the Heavenly scent of love and joy moment by moment to refresh our lives and to share with the world.

     I hope then that no matter how flattened you get by life at times you can still rise up to choose more joy and love. I hope that no matter how many times you are put through a wringer you can still come out stronger, better, and closer to God.

~ Joseph J. Mazzella ~

[ by: Joseph J. Mazzella (joecool@wirefire) -- from 'Inspired Buffalo' (InspiredBuffalo@lighthouse.net) ]