Author: Carolyn Gard
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22
We have just moved to Montana, and getting the house in Boulder cleaned out was quite a project. Part of the problem was that we had an unfinished basement, a place that for thirty years became a storage area for things we didn’t use any more. Thanks to two strong grandsons, we got it cleared out. Then came numerous trips to Goodwill, thrift stores, Resource, Charm, and Ecocycle. One of the items that not even Goodwill wanted was a very large, very heavy desk. We took it to Western Disposal and paid them to take it to the dump. Our grandson went along and pushed it out of the van. He commented that it was a good feeling to push it out and not worry if it broke.
So to make an analogy, wouldn’t it be nice to take all those prejudices that we’ve accumulated over the years, shove them out of our lives, and not worry if they break. Let’s face it, many of them need to be broken. Perhaps we hold some convictions that may have been acceptable at one time, but no longer are. Perhaps we hold some convictions because we were brought up that way, even if the intent was not to hurt. Just like a desk that no one wants, I think about the biases, conscious and unconscious, that I have that I no longer believe in but that still have a place in my consciousness. I am determined to push them out and watch them break. Then I can fill my mind with new convictions, ones that don’t hurt others. New wine into new wineskins.
Now with a new house–without a basement–I can fill it with new furniture at the same time that I can fill my mind with new ideas. No more saving unwanted and hurtful convictions; I will push them out, like an unwanted desk.
And if you ever figure out how to do that, please let me know!
God, give us the courage to get rid of our unneeded ideas so that we may have room to follow your will.
