Yesterday, I shared something with a friend of mine. Because it was pressing against my mind, my spirit. Because I needed to hear myself voice my concern out loud so that I do not fool myself into thinking it’s not a concern by masking it in silence. I prayed about it before I shared it. I had peace around it. Didn’t I? Maybe I shared it because I needed someone standing in agreement with me that all is well. I did pray about it before I shared it. Didn’t I? I thought I had peace about it. In my praying, did I calm myself long enough to listen for the answer? Not “my” answer…the one I *wanted* to hear but rather the answer He was bringing to me? Or did I use that phone call to my friend to hide from the voice of God in my fleshly fear that, maybe just maybe I don’t want to hear His answer?

My friend called me this morning, to pray with me about this situation. Apologizing for appearing, “at loose ends” yesterday, for answering my concern with worry. It’s all good. It was yesterday. It is today.

We all have rituals that we fall back on during certain times in our lives. When I’m stressing about something, worried, or trying to work things out in my mind, oddly enough I turn to housecleaning…literally. There is something about the act of wiping down the stove, cleaning counters, clearing out clutter that calms me, helps me focus, helps clear my head.

And so it was yesterday. I cleared off the coffee table, leaving lit candles in my wake. Sorted, trashed, stacked papers and magazines. Organized books. Wiped down kitchen counters, scrubbed floors, cleared off counter tops in the kitchen…again leaving lit candles. (My friend “The Voice” says I’m the only person he knows who CLEANS by candlelight. Hey, don’t knock it! Long as the cleaning gets done.)

As I cleared physical space, wiped up grease splatters, scrubbed floors, folded clothes, weeded through the “stuff” hidden in the hall closet, I felt my burdens lift. As if each stroke of the Swiffer was a silent prayer - each forward motion saying “All is well”, each backward motion a simple “thank you” uttered to the universe. Spray the counter top: “Thy will be done”. Wipe the counter: “Thank you Father”. And so it went until my counters, floors, and my mind were cleaned of clutter.

I’m not sure how cleaning came to be such a calming, prayerful experience for me (maybe all those years of my mom praying I’d clean my room. LOL). I’m not sure. But I am grateful for it.

So today MY soul sings. There is peace. Calm. JOY. My burdens have been lifted. Literally. Figuratively.

To you my friend, I say this: Thank you. It’s inadequate. As always. But it’s all I have. As always. When people ask about you, I always describe your presence. Yesterday is just one illustration of that presence.

For you, I leave these words…..know that I am well.