Creative Writing: Clean Slate

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Note: this is for the sheer pleasure of writing, not so much about perfect production.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Clean slate: pure, plain, and black. Though today, clean slates could also mean a white board, so then the description would be pure, plain, and white, which fits so much better into a Christian viewpoint.  We don't like to think of pure and clean as black, that is so evil instead. 

This was the poem that came immediately to mind when I thought of clean slate:

"He came to my desk with a quivering lip, the lesson was done.
'Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher? 
I've spoiled this one.'
I took his sheet all soiled and blotted and gave him a new one all unspotted.
And into his tired heart I cried, 
'Do better now my child.'

I went to the throne with a trembling heart; the day was done.
'Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I've spoiled this one.'
He took my day all soiled and blotted and gave me a new one all unspotted. 
And into my tired heart he cried, 
'Do better now my child.'"

-Anonymous-

What does a clean slate look like? Unblotted. What does a clean life look like? Unspotted. And that is what I wish to be, a life lived unspotted, clean, free from reproach. I want all the good stuff with none of the bad refining stuff. I just want to be naturally good, to not have to struggle, to just smile sweetly and clean that spotted toilet for the 100th time. 

Too often though, by about 8:00 AM I need to take my scarred and pockmarked slate back to God and say, "Can I try again? Can I start over now? I need more patience, more love, more grace, more of everything good."

And right now, as our world is in tumult around us and there are the fear-mongering among us, it is too easy to mar our slates with the worries and cares of this world, to become anxious, to panic, to spread our fears around. It's easy to forget that God is in control and this pandemic is not surprising Him. At. All. 

I want that clean slate, not the dirty one.
I want the peace, not the anxiety.
I want the surrender, not the control.
I want the rest, not the fear.

And what do I need to do to get it? I need to keep coming to the throne over and over and over again. And you know what? Even when I have come for the 100th time by 10:00AM, God is not going to get exasperated, He is still going to have a smile for me, He is still going to love me, He is still going to try to speak peace to my soul and surrender to my heart. And He is still going to whisper in my ear, "Do better now my child."  

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