Shaking

Today my washing machine took a walk. If you have an older washing machine, you might have experience with the intense shaking and the accompanying loud noises that great you with the start of the spin cycle. Today my washer was on its way to block the nearby doorway leading into my backyard. I went up to it to push it back into it’s desired location and firmly put my hands on either side of the top of the washer to see if I could get it to shake or scream less- nothing really worked.

Before I gave up and walked away, I noticed a clump of soil that had fallen out of a kid’s garden project from the counter above onto the washer. The washing machine was shaking so quickly that It almost looked like the clump of soil was hovering or floating just above the washer.

I was suddenly struck. The foundation under the soil was shaking, screeching, and experiencing commotion of every kind, but the soil on top was just hovering, floating over all the commotion, unbroken. When the washer came to a rest the soil was not in the same place that it started, but it was intact. It was not destroyed.

We will all experience things that rattle us to the core. We all have moments, months, or even years of great hardship. But how we face the shaking and how we view it can make a big difference. In this simple visual, I was simply overcome with the thought that even in the roughest moments of my life, there is still a hope and an option to rise above the chaos, to float above the storm, to actively endure it, and remain unbroken. There is a peace that transcends the great shakings of our lives, I have experienced it several times throughout my life. It is a peace that has no logical understanding, and it was that peace I was reminded of today as I watched a piece of dirt float on a shaking washer.