A Powerful Poem

I'm sure many people have heard of Madeline L'Engle. But did you know she's a poet too? Reading this poem really hit me at the core. It's called "Fire by Fire"

My son goes down in the orchard to incinerate
Burning the day's trash, the accumulation
Of old letters, empty toilet-paper rolls, a paper plate,
Marketing lists, discarded manuscript, on occasion
Used cartons of bird seed, dog biscuit. The fire
Rises and sinks; he stirs the ashes till the flames expire.

Burn, too, old sins, bedraggled virtues, tarnished
Dreams, remembered unrealities, the gross
Should-haves, would-haves, the unvarnished
Errors of the day, burn, burn the loss
Of intentions, recurring failures, turn
Them all to ash. Incinerate the dross. Burn. Burn.

I started to think about my own life and tears came to my eyes as I read and re-read this poem. How many things in my life I've hung onto--past sins, trash, stuff that needs to be burned away and forgotten so that Christ can heal me. I long to serve God and yet feel as if all this garbage is in the way. Emptying the trash can of my heart isn't easy to do. The hurts, the broken dreams, the pains that pile up; the failures, the disappointments that have filled my heart. Oh Lord, God of All, take it away. Make me pure.

Janine