Nothing noble about wrinkles

The follow-up to a busy time in the B&B is Mt Everest in the laundry basket, awaiting ironing. This is the real down side of running a B&B: the ironing of sheets and duvets. I redeem the time somewhat by listening to the Bible in one year or worship music or a sermon podcast, but still. At the end of the day, I’m standing for over an hour pushing a hot iron up and down wrinkled cotton.

The wrinkled cotton is the hardest to get the crease marks out of. Some of the blended fabrics are a breeze by comparison.

We are each unique: the fabric of our personalities is particular to each one of us, made up of our genes, our experiences, our upbringing and probably a thousand other things. The wrinkles in our personalities are harder set in some of us than in others. 

It’s the pressure and the heat that removes the wrinkles. Much as we don’t like discipline or hard times, those are the things that iron out the creases of our characters.

My mom used to keep a water bottle in the fridge, with the lid punctured with nail holes. When she brought the clothes in from the hot California sun, the wrinkles would be emblazoned into the fabric. They were removed easier with the application of a light sprinkling of water from that bottle. 

Heat and pressure are not always enough to remove the wrinkles of our personalities: sometimes we need the gentle rain of the Spirit to loosen us up and smooth them out.

I’ve been doing some writing around Proverbs, and was impressed last week with the dictionary definition of noble. ‘Magnanimous, a courageous spirit, generosity of mind’. This is my goal now: to become noble. I love this definition, this word. I think my mom has shown nobility in many ways. 

I fear that the Lord is going to need to apply heat, pressure and a generous sprinkling of the Spirit to loosen up the wrinkles that impede nobility in me. Ready and willing, Lord. And slightly nervous.