THE KITCHEN SINK

the kitchen sink

photo courtesy shop.moonvalleynursery.com

“I don’t mind doing dishes as much here as I do at home,” she said. I hadn’t considered it, but after she said it, I ran it around my noggin for a few moments and responded, “Yeah, I don’t either now that you mention it – I’m not sure why? My youngest was ready to enlighten me. “It’s because you can see out the window here.”

“We have windows at home too?” I rallied.

“Maybe it’s just that the view is better?”

“Yeah, probably – look at those queen palms – look how big they are.”

“Mmm-Hmm.” She agreed.

Although my daughter thought we’d solved the mystery, I knew there was more to the story. We have queen palms, bougainvilleas, yellow bells, and bright potted flowers that my little one used to help me plant… (preteen era) No – there was more to be discovered.

The possibility that we were out of town on Spring Break crossed my mind, but I knew there was still more… a truth I don’t like to admit. A lesson I’ve learned over and over but still struggle to grasp and master, like a kid not being able to keep his hand out of the cookie jar.

I’ve spoken and written of this truth as if I’ve mastered it and have one of the few and rare keys to this sacred vault. People that know truths but can’t live them consistently are better off keeping their mouths zipped and the imaginary key tossed out into the yard.

That’s why I didn’t share with my daughter what had dawned on me again; less is more…

It’s a tough concept for our physical senses to let our minds grasp. Society tells us every day that we need more… “If some is good, more is better,” and I’ve lived most of my life by that ignorant mantra. I knew the old place we were in for our daughter’s Spring Break was a smaller cozier place than she’s used to.

The low ceilings and the kitchen sink butted right up against the outside wall with a small window dead centered over it did more than get her closer to the outside world, it satisfied a simple desire in her that the deceitful world hasn’t stripped from her innocence yet; we don’t need mansions of glory to satisfy our soul.

We can be content with less if we have contentment from God within us. There’s nothing wrong with the finer things in life, it just seems to make it harder to stay humble when surrounded by things that tend to make us forget that the most treasured of things in this world can’t be seen or measured.

It’s not my specialty, not many things are in and around a kitchen unless I’m building it… but I enjoyed those queen palms the next day as I was doing dishes in that old place. Not a bad place to be; in front of that old kitchen sink… kinda brought life into proper view…

Now, the tough part of keeping that focus…