Not too long ago, after I place a bag of trash in the trash can outside my house, I begin to walk away. But just as I start to walk away, the trash can yells, “Where do you think you’re going?”
I answer, “Uh, I’m going back in the house, Mr. Trash Can.”
The trash can says, “Just call me ‘TC.’ We’ve been knowing each other for ten years.”
I say, “Okay, TC, I’m going back in the house. See you tomorrow.”
Like a jilted lover, TC yells, “You don’t appreciate me!”
I say, “Huh?”
TC answers, “You don’t appreciate me!”
I ask, “Why would you say something like that?”
TC goes on to say, “You’ve preached about all those other objects inside the house. But not once have you even considered preaching about me. What about me?”
I say, “But you’re a trash can, TC. And there’s no way the congregation would believe that we’re actually having this conversation anyway.”
TC says, “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what, TC?”
TC answers, “You don’t get the fact that there’s a similarity between God and me.”
I say, “No disrespect, TC, but you’re a trash can. You and God can’t possibly have any similarities!”
TC shouts, “That’s where you’re wrong! . . . Do you realize that whenever a container is empty, you bring it to me? Whenever something stops working, you bring it to me! Whenever something is broken, you bring it to me!”
I say, “Yeah.”
TC further explains, “In the same way, whenever you feel empty, you should go to God. Whenever your stuff stops working, you should go to God. Whenever something is broken in your life, you should go to God, because God is your help, your hope, and your healer.”
I say, “Amen.”