Never Ending Sweeping

Down the road from where I live, at the main intersection heading into town, there is a road construction project of Epic proportions going on. It has been going on for months (years if you ask my kids) and will likely continue well into the summer. They are widening a 2 lane road that just could no longer accommodate the traffic that was traveling on it every day…it was getting crazier and crazier. The process is long and painful…first tearing up the old road, then bringing in dirt and gravel and leveling, etc, then the concrete. We have obviously been watching this process and its participants, day after day, for the longest time now, as we drive by them daily. My children, particularly my oldest, Emily, are so bothered by it, they have even forgotten why it is being done and are wondering if the whole thing was really a good idea in the first place. “I wish we could just have the road the way it used to be, dad.” This is not an uncommon statement on the way into town as we brave the construction traffic.
One of the participants in this Epic drama of road construction that we have had the pleasure to “meet” (the quotations are there because not only have we never met her, we have no idea what her name is or really much of anything about her) is the little old lady who lives on the corner. How does a little old lady that we don’t even know find such significance in our hearts? I’m glad you asked.
As a part of the project, the state of Indiana claimed a portion of this little old lady’s front yard. She previously had always kept it very neat and tidy, with pretty flowers and perfectly manicured lawn. It is not a fancy house…probably a 3 bedroom ranch with plenty of room for what she needs. Now, I’m sure you can imagine what back hoes, dump trucks, bulldozers, concrete mixers and an endless parade of workmen have done to her lovely little yard. It has been torn to shreds. I mean, literally, in shambles. There have been huge ruts and ditches, mud caked equipment and men, giant 4 foot sewer drains, and countless other things in her yard. It is filthy!
What’s interesting about her reaction to all this is what has bonded us to this little old lady. She sweeps! Yes, sweeps. Day after day, she can be seen sweeping what is left of her driveway, as if to say, “I may not be able to get rid of all you workmen and all your filth, but the part that is mine, will be a clean as I can make it.” It’s quite strange, on any given day, you can see her out there with her ordinary, common, household broom, sweeping out the dirt, right next to giant piles of muck and mess and ripped up road. It is quite a contradiction to see this little old lady working so hard to keep things clean day after day and realizing that she’ll never do it. No matter how many times she sweeps off her drive, it will just fill up with nasty dirt all over again…probably about 5 minutes after she’s done sweeping! Until that road is finished and all the workmen go on to another job, she will never even get close to her goal of a clean drive! It reminds me of the time my dad was teaching me to rake leaves on a windy day in the Midwest. He reminded me that if I raked against the wind, I’d simply be raking again in a little bit, if I raked with the wind, I would fare much better.
When I look at that lady, I see something of myself. You see, I have a confession to make. I too was a sweeper! I swept and I swept and I swept and I just couldn’t seem to make anything very much cleaner. In my case, I tried and tried and tried to fill my emptiness, the longing in my heart for something (although I couldn’t quite put my finger on it), the desire within me to live for something more than…money…fun…pleasing people…achieving lots of success and fame…etc…etc…etc. All these things and on I swept. Each day trying to sweep away my inner sense of dissatisfaction and loss, and each day realizing that it was still there. The piles of dirt, the machinery, the road crews, and the filth kept piling up on my driveway and I could not get rid of it. The American way of life had filled my head with the idea that if I just worked hard enough, if I bought enough, climbed the “ladder” enough, played enough, had fun enough, then I would find satisfaction, peace and joy. The problem is that I was just like little old lady, there was no end to my sweeping.
Then I realized that learning about this Jesus and how He loves me, and how I can love Him and all the people around me He loves so much might break the cycle of sweeping and help me find more. He came in and finished the road, repaved my driveway, and then handed me a broom and He took hold of one of those massive backpack blower things right next to me. Together we have been cleaning up the mess that life in the American dream had been for me. What’s more? I have found a sense of joy and fulfillment and peace that I never previously dreamed was possible. And, I am part of something much greater than just me – it would be best called a construction project of Epic proportions.