The Linen Suit

Spring is here! I love spring when the aroma of the awakening earth runs along the wind and through the leaves on the once barren branches. Everything is fresh and clean like the smell of new mown grass.

I pack away my sweaters, boots and heavy coats and replace this amour with cottons, sandals and linens; including my linen suits.

Have you ever worn a linen suit? It hangs crisply on the hanger looking business- like and smart, but even the act of 'putting it on' produces the first crinkles of the day. As the day progresses, the car seat belt, your office chair and the movements of arms create their own impression on the suit. As the day continues, your activity is imprinted on the suit for all to see so by the time you return home, the suit is wrinkled and disheveled.

Our soul is like that linen suit. When we awaken each morning, we feel refreshed and neatly pressed; ready to take on the day. Then the day makes its impression on us with crinkles of misunderstandings, creases of anger and frustration, wrinkles of worry, and perhaps a spot or two of despair. By the time we return home, our soul is disheveled.

Unlike the linen suit, we cannot press out our soul's wrinkles with an iron. The fluff setting on our dryer will not plump us up again, nor will a dry cleaners restore our soul.

No, only God can set things right for us. A visit with God will clean the spotting, iron out the wrinkles and fluff out the fabric of our being. We are restored by our Creator - but only if we visit with him at the end of the day.

"Thou art a hiding place for me, thou preserves me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with deliverance. [Selah] I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not keep with you. Many are the pangs of the wicked; but steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the LORD. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" Psalms 32:7-11 RSV