Rubbish

a short, short story

     When I was cleaning up the attic of my soul a few days ago, I came across quite a number of precious items, the kind of things that one knows one will never use again but cannot bear to part with. After years of storage, I had almost (but not quite) forgotten they were there. A lot of it is simply rubbish, of course: a bushel basket of broken promises, every issue of Resolutions going back to 1962, a couple of Vanities, a Vice or two, that kind of thing. Eventually, I felt, I would simply dump all that stuff in the trash, when I have the time.
     But there is no feeling quite like the pride of past achievements. As I surveyed those trophies, my heart swelled. There on the shelf under the gable stands my Sense of Self-Worth, seven feet tall, dusty, but gleaming with gold. Right next to it is my Appetite for Success, mouth wide open, and on the other side, my darkly glowing Self-Righteousness, still shining dimly, giving just enough light to deceive.
     Looking down the room, I spotted my first, rusting Self-Esteem engine. Right above it were the real treasures of the attic: row upon row of Dead Legalisms, all stuffed and mounted very professionally. A lot of them are still in good shape, despite the passage of years. I picked a couple of them up for a moment, and it seemed to me that they were a good bit heavier than I remembered them to be. Beautiful work.
     And just beyond them was my old Works Salvation. I pulled it away from the wall and got on it, for the first time in years. The movement was cranky and needed some oil, but after I finally got it wound up, it ran pretty good. Of course, it did not work, but then it had never worked; it just made impressive sounds and took up a lot of space. But almost everyone has one, and it was somehow gratifying to know that I could still operate mine -- such good exercise!
     Stepping off it, I looked back over the room. Several times I had resisted the impulse just to throw the whole lot out. There was nothing there of value to anyone but me, and I would undoubtedly be better off without all that rubbish. I firmly resolved to clean it all out -- when I get around to it. I stepped back toward the attic stair.
     But wait! What was that I saw at the end of the room, peeking out of a case on the floor? Was it -- yes, it was. After all these years, imagine finding a bottle of vintage Religious Respectability. In fact, a whole case! I decided to take a bottle back downstairs. I remembered, it only takes a drop or two to really rev you up. It was comforting to think that, with a whole case, I probably have a lifetime supply.

     RMA, September, 2000

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Compilation Copyright, 1996-2024, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day,
        with Robert Douglas, principal contributor
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 09/10/09