Eviction Notice!

We attacked and offered them no mercy! They’d been here long enough. Enough is enough! Finally, they’re gone, but they’ll be back, because they’re insidious and persistent.

            That’s the problem with dust bunnies—they’re almost like domesticated pets. They come and actually grow on you. “Oh, there’s a little wisp of dust,” you think when you spot the small fluff on the floor when you’re getting ready for work in the morning or for bed at night. It’s small, inconsequential, nothing to be alarmed about. While you sleep, while you work they roll around like snowballs, growing silently, stealthily. Then one day you realize you have to get rid of them or charge rent!

            Dust and I have a long history. We won’t quite go back to the Garden of Eden to talk about Eve’s formation from Adam—a rather secondary separation from creation out of dust—yet we do have history. Honestly, I’d rather have a mixer, chopping knife, or wooden spoon in my hand than a dust cloth, mop, or vacuum. I like tidy. But dust? It’s forever coming back. (I don’t know why I don’t feel that way about dishes accumulating as I cook, but everyone has her or his blind spots!)

 I vividly remember being the same way as a young person. One day I came home from school to find “dust me” written in the accumulation on my bookshelf. Mom’s little hint was amusing but ignored—the dust merely filled in her inscription. Fortunately, my husband doesn’t mind picking up a dust cloth, and I will, upon threat of company. So we do get by. We by no means resemble Miss Havisham’s room from Great Expectations!

This week I looked up dust bunnies, which are also called dust mice. Did you know they are made up of bits of hair, dead skin, dust, and small debris? Static electricity holds the bunnies together. Ick!

Do the bunnies remind you of something else? I’m thinking sin, especially the “little” sins and habits in our lives. We brush things aside—“Well, we’re concerned, so it’s not gossip.”  Or how about—“I couldn’t say anything about the joke and embarrass him.” Do you fight internal dialogue that you know is not pleasing to God? Ouch!

Spiritual dust bunnies! They roll around in our lives and grow. For a while they don’t bother us—just a little dust, just a little tolerance. Then we’re oblivious. “Oh, well, that’s life. What are a few thoughts?  I didn’t say anything.” Or “Why do I have to be the one to do something about his off-color jokes?” As time goes by, we don’t even debate ourselves anymore. The bunnies simply grow and grow.

Finally, the bunnies were evicted from their rooms today. I’m sure God would rather we deal with spiritual dust bunnies as soon as they move in, when they’re merely thoughts, the first time something comes up. Sometimes, however, God’s Spirit moves in with an eviction order, when the bunnies have rolled around and accumulated in our lives.

With the dust bunnies, it’s all about keeping current with housekeeping and noticing those little gray creatures. The more we tend to both spiritually, the less likely we are to find them growing in our lives. So let’s attack and show them no mercy!