Friday, May 16, 2008

One Man's Trash, Another Man's Treasure

I guess I am one of the last holdouts when it comes to garbage pickup. Most of the neighbors have curbside pickup, although our street doesn't have curbs. They roll their trash carts out at night and the truck comes early in the morning to collect it, rather noisily, I might add. But I still take my trash to the local collection site. It's a state of the art facility, with different kinds of bins and dumpster containers for cardboard, plastic, aluminum, glass, and paper recyclables. There is also one for metal objects. Lately, it has been a time-consuming and frustrating experience. I don't know how much longer I can hold out being a holdout. No matter what day of the week or time of day, there always seems to be a line of vehicles that stretches all the way out into the road. If you are the last in line, as one will always be at some point, it can be pretty hazardous for your health with the rear end of your vehicle sticking out in the travel lane of the passing traffic. Then, as I approach the dumpster, in absolutely no danger of setting any land speed records, my blood pressure goes up when I see the "garbage nazi". That's what I have decided to call him. He seems to wait until it's my turn to throw my garbage bags away to bring an already snail's pace operation to a complete halt. As I get out of the pickup truck, he decides to close the door to the dumpster and spend a few minutes compacting the trash. So I wait. Now I know the trash needs compacting inside the container. It's way more economical to transport compacted trash, especially with the high fuel prices, these days. But it always seems to be my turn when this happens. Isn't my time worth something, I ask myself? To make matters worse, this guy inspects what you throw away, spotting a plastic recyclable or a piece of cardboard in the back of the truck. So he informs me how to properly dispose of these things in their respective places. By now, I have identified him as the primary cause of the backed up line all the way out to the road. Sometimes, I have been so frustrated with the wait, I have gotten out of line and driven away, as a sign of protest. And while I'm thinking I really showed him, the wind in the back of the truck whips these bags around when I get up to highway speed. This causes me to wonder if these bags could blow out, becoming a traffic hazard, as I begin to imagine what it would be like if a tractor trailer truck ran over the bag of trash. Not to mention about what kind of mess this would make, I begin to think it would really not be in my best interests for my trash to be exposed to the world... I might have my identity stolen from some scrap of paper containing some personal information! So I experience no small amount of anxiety over a hypothetical situation. Since I don't talk to myself as much as I used to and my "self" no longer responds as wisely as I'd like, I have started to talk to God about this. It is amazing what happens when you pray. Lately, there's been another guy at the dump. I call him the garbage servant. Before I can get out of the pickup truck, he often reaches over in the back and throws my garbage bags away. He is pleasant and helpful and always tells me to have a "blessed" day. Here's my new perspective. The garbage dump in itself produces two kinds of folks. One who stays at a distance, pointing to the place where you must discard your garbage and really doesn't care about your scheduled and agenda-laden life. The other one gets involved with the process. He actually touches the trash, disposing of it himself. This one is a servant. We are born into a world that on its best day, is a garbage dump. I know the beauty of the sunset or ocean breezes and mountain ranges can be pretty awesome to experience. But this world is dying and cursed with the fallen nature of sin. And the only hope is that One came to this dump and bore the curse of all humanity so we could be restored. Creation is His recreation. He is personally involved in our lives, and cares about us. He not only tells us to dispose of our garbage, He helps us do it. Jesus came as a servant. He's coming again as Lord. His desire is to bring about a truly "blessed" day.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)
This is encouraging for those of us in the garbage dump of life today. Jesus...one man's trash...another man's treasure. Is Jesus your treasure today?
Blessings to you,
Sam

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