Mount Trashmore

A plus to living in Virginia is that it is my Daniel’s teen-years home – he graduated from a VA Beach high school and has many special memories of the area. One of the memories I’ve always heard about is Mount Trashmore Park, a tall mound of landfill waste transformed into a green space. We visited, I for the first time, the other day, and took the quick assent to the top just so I could say I’d done it. Standing at the top, it’s impossible to guess that underneath my feet was piled several stories of trash. The only evidence – a single pipe venting any decaying gasses from its depths.

It got me thinking…

If we open the doors to our pasts, most likely a pile of unwanteds and unmentionables will come tumbling out like opening a typical teenager’s closet. In a spiritual sense, we can take out the trash, clean it all up by trusting Jesus to redeem and restore us. That, however, doesn’t always erase the consequences. Sometimes, we just have to live with the results of bad or misled decisions and unfortunate circumstances or experiences.

But that doesn’t mean we have to live in a trashy life, wallowing in the middle of refuse and misery. I think we can choose to look at that which we would throw out if we could as the makings of a place like Mount Trashmore. Cover each layer of trash with good soil and grass (Jesus redeeming blood, God’s Word, forgiveness), then stand on it – get it under our feet! Another layer of trash comes along? Mix it with the good stuff and stand on it. These layers, then, are transformed into a mountain, a high place from which you can see farther, have a different perspective, enjoy a beautiful park. In time, you’ll see how “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

Happy Wednesday, Dry Ground friends!

(photos by yours truly!)