I think I would really hate to work for a secret service agency with all those redacted documents and shredding that goes on.

Not that I really know much about what they do, I’m just imagining it all. What’s got me thinking about it is my wife Lily’s new kick on cleaning out our files. I have to agree that we have a serious stockpile of paper.

We have files full of old utility bills, income tax – you name it, we’ve kept it. And it’s all getting shredded. Lil really loves her shredder! It’s a Royal 1212X; apparently it crosscuts the sheets so that even CISIS or the NSA or FBI couldn’t piece the confetti together.

I’m thinking she might burn the motor out (which wouldn’t be a bad thing), her shredder’s been humming for days. We have bags and bags of shredded paper.

It’s not all going to fit in the garbage/recycling this week. We have an old bean bag chair that’s a little flat … maybe we could puff it up with a few bags of shredded paper.

If anyone knows of a wedding coming up soon, I’m sure Lily would sell some of her shredding to throw at the happy couple.

It’s not just saying goodbye to the paper during her Watergate-style purification of files, it’s the noise. Someone should seriously come up with a muffler for these machines.

While it’s destroying any evidence of my name and address on Union gas bills, it keeps me from hearing the TV or concentrating on reading, or focussing on writing things like this blog.

Lily likes it when we do things in the same place, even if we are doing different things. Generally that’s a good thing and I agree. But in this case, I’d consider me in the family room and her in the garage with her precious shredder close enough to being in the same place. At least it’s under the same roof.

What concerns me most is that we have a large filing cabinet, about four feet wide, with four draws. I could be in for a noisy spring and summer. She just better not take it on vacation this year.

I understand what’s at the heart of all this paper mutilation. Lily doesn’t want our personal information ending up in some recycling plant or land fill. She can’t handle the thought of someone digging through garbage to find info to steal our identity.

But I can’t see the seagulls in our neighbourhood being able to lift our credit info and charge some vacation to our card like the penguin on the CIBC Visa commercials might do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9BIsrSPRFY).

Lil is not one to take chances. So I guess I should be grateful that she is making room in the filing cabinet for the next twenty years.

Oh wait, I think she’s saying something … I think she said she’s nearly finished … though I may not have heard her correctly over the racket of that blasted shredder!

Here’s the thing: It’s not easy when you recognize that you need to get rid of something in your life that is causing you harm. It takes some work, and it’s going to mean a disruption and annoyance to your old way of life. But when you come through it, the benefit is a life that has more room for the Holy Spirit to work in.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How often do you do a life-clearing to make more room for God in your life?

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