Granite or Glass?

I live in an old house with granite walls. Thick granite walls, which serve to keep the cold in, summer or winter. Today the sun shines bright out of a brindled sky, but sitting at my table, I feel the cold.

A few years ago we built on a glass porch, a small conservatory. It is freezing and unusable in the winter but it doesn’t take much sunshine to heat the room up beautifully. As I sit freezing in the living room, I know that the temperature in the conservatory will be pleasantly toasty.

I want the walls of my heart to be like the glass walls of the conservatory, so that the love, truth, light and warmth of the Son permeates it easily. I find, though, that sometimes I retreat into the granite interior. I can be indifferent rather than compassionate. I can be selfish rather than selfless. I can be greedy rather than generous. I can be judgmental rather than understanding. I can choose to be blind to those things that challenge my comfort zone.

Forgive me, Lord, for making such choices. May the walls of my heart be thin glass, softly permeable to the light of your love. May I never choose hardness over compassion, blindness over sight, self-centredness over selflessness. May I always be willing to go the extra mile, and may I pray without ceasing as I go through each day.

Soften my heart, Lord.