I was cleaning the ashes out of the firebox yesterday. As I was doing so, it occurred to me that the ashes are a lot like what is left over from our past. The ashes are literally what is left over from the warm cozy fires we have been having this week. The fires were purposeful; they accomplished something important – the heating of our home.
So also, those things which have happened in our past were purposeful; they accomplished something important. They made us into the person we are today.
We learned.
We grew.
We accomplished things.
We made an impact on other people’s lives.
But those things are past. They are gone. They accomplished what they needed to accomplish – just like the wood in the fireplace accomplished what it needed to accomplish, and it is now gone. All that is left is ashes.
That is not a bad thing. There is no need to grieve that the wood is gone and all that is left is ashes. The wood did exactly what it was meant to do. It gave warmth and coziness to our home.
So also, it is not a bad thing that our past is gone. There is no need to grieve that our past is gone. It accomplished what it was meant to do. It made us into the person we are today. The question now is: What am I going to do today? Who am I going to be today?
The “ashes” which are left over from our yesterdays, play a role in who we are going to be today.
A small layer of left over ash in the firebox greatly helps in getting a fire started each morning. The ashes hold the heat of the newly kindled fire. The ashes help the fire get going and help things heat up.
So also, in the same way, it is the “ashes” of our yesterdays which help us be who we are today. It is our past which “kindles the fire” for us to be who we are meant to be in this next season of life.
But what happens if I never clean the ash out of the firebox? The ash accumulates … and accumulates … and accumulates. Until, at last, there is no room or space for the firewood. There is no space for today’s fire. The ashes are so thick and so deep that a fire can’t even be kindled.
Today’s fire is suffocated by yesterday’s ashes.
This same thing can happen in our lives. We can become so fixated on what happened in our past … that we can’t let go of it. We choose not to scoop those ashes out and carry them off, to be tossed off into the ravine.
Instead, we hold onto those memories! We fixate on those memories!
And in holding on so tightly to the past, the “ashes” build up in the “firebox” of our life. The “ashes” of our past become so thick and so deep that there is no room for the new logs of today’s “fire.” The “ashes” become so thick and so deep that the “fire” of today can’t even be kindled.
Today’s “fire” – which is meant to burn brightly through our life – is suffocated by yesterday’s “ashes.”
I am thankful for an ash bucket! I am thankful for the opportunity to clean out our firebox so that there is plenty of room for a new fire. Or in other words – I’m thankful to be able to appreciate the value and importance of my past, but I’m thankful to be able to let it go.
At the same time, I am also thankful for a small remaining layer of ash, to help my new fire get going. In other words – I’m thankful for the memories of my past which fuel me and kindle me to do what I’m meant to do today!
I want to remember the past … but only in so much as I’m grateful for where it brought me to today. I’m grateful for who it made me to be. And I’m grateful for how I can live today because of it!
Don’t hang on too tightly to the past. Get that scooper and scoop out some of the thickly-layered ash from the “firebox” of life. That ash accomplished what it was meant to do. It’s time to let it go.
At the same time … hang onto a small remaining layer of ash … because you need that connection to the past to kindle and “fire you up” for what you are meant to do today!
