Why won’t dishes do themselves?

I really don’t understand why dishes won’t do themselves. I also don’t understand why it is that the amount of dishes in my sink often reflects the amount of free time I have in my life. This relationship between dishes and time is completely inverse. Less time = more dishes. And – do you notice how Seth politely does his dishes and then nicely sets them out to dry? Those are his over there, minus the red polka dot cup. Does he not see the entire counterful that are waiting to also be politely washed?

I am ready for Charlie Brown to be over this weekend, solely to have Saturday’s back. I am ready to be done with all of my school work, to have every day back (until Sept. 28th that is). I need more time for my dishes! Well – I need more time for everything, and right now, dishes happens to be the byproduct of that time loss. So what do I do? I take a picture of my dishes and then sit here spending 25 minutes writing a blog about how dirty they are when I could have just cleaned them in the first place…but I find that I do that a lot. I want to do something, like my final test for a class, but I sit and sit until it’s crunch time and then bust out the paper, or test questions. But I have to wonder, “Am I missing the joy of the washing?” There’s something peaceful about making things clean, and new…useable once again. Taking something soiled and washing it and having it sparkle in your hands. Taking a subject, researching, learning and dissecting it, then putting your thoughts down on paper (or computer screen) to realize that you did a good job and you know what you’re talking about.

I suppose that’s process right? It’s the idea of taking things from a dirty, confused, and in the case of my dishes, some downright disgusting places and making them plain, clear, and useable. Maybe I’m the one in process? Maybe my dirty dishes are symptomatic of the fact that I myself am dirty and must be cleaned by my Maker and Owner. Have I set myself on a counter somewhere? Have I made things more confusing than they ought to be?

I know my dishes won’t do themselves, just as I know that I can’t clean myself up. I need time to process – to ruminate and think things over. And then I need time to say, “Help me God…I am confused. I don’t understand this – I’ve let myself get dirtied by the things of this world and I need to be cleaned again”

So my dishes might sit there for a bit longer while I process…because maybe my 25 minutes spent here on the couch and not washing them, is the 25 minutes it’s taking me to be cleaned by my Father first.