“Ouch!”
I banged my head once again while under the sink trying to figure out why the faucet flow was reduced to a trickle. After a number of efforts and not a little consternation on my part, the source of the clog was found and full flow was restored much to my satisfaction, sore forehead notwithstanding.
Clogs. I’m referring to blockages, not shoes.
Wherever there is plumbing or channeling of one sort or another, there will be clogs of one sort or another. Water pipes, sewer pipes, veins, arteries, throats, bowels, streets, highways, rivers, thought processes, computations, conversations, payments — you can think of many more and the list may be endless.
Here I focus on two primary functions common and essential to efficiency and effectiveness, and vulnerable to clogs: inflow and outflow.
These examples represent but a few situations where unencumbered inflow is necessary to successful functioning.
Plumbing is designed to feed fresh resources in sufficient quantity to the place of operations: water to the sink or blood pumped by the heart from vital organs to the lungs. Vehicles are funneled into the city. Calculations are performed toward a solution, or ideas developed into a story.
Constricted or hampered inflow renders the desired operation ineffective. Unhindered outflow is also essential to successful functioning.
Wastes are transported away from the body, from the building and from the community. Vehicles are channeled out of the city or oxygen from the lungs to the vital organs.
Solutions are designed for an application or a story for the reader’s imagination. Inhibited or blocked outflow also renders the desired operation ineffective.
So what about all the clogs in life? They may be the product of neglect, overuse, accident or abuse.
Thousands of years ago, ice dams repeatedly blocked the Columbia River and its tributaries, forcing the pent-up waters to reroute or to eventually force their way back, resulting in “the Channeled Scablands.”
On the much different human scale, dams of physical, emotional, relational or spiritual types repeatedly clog the passageways that enable the ebb and flow of existence: values, meaning, beauty, truth and goodness.
Are we helpless in the face of life’s clogs?
Certain surgical procedures can force open clogged blood vessels or bypass them altogether. Willing, courageous and humble parties can work through clogs in relationships that block cooperation, communication and commitment.
Emotional clogs can be reduced by freeing one’s feelings and sharing them with trusted others. And spiritual clogs that are blocking our ability to receive and engage in what matters most in life — these can be opened by looking up, looking out and looking in — call it mindfulness, religious practices, spirituality or prayer.
Clogs are a reality, like it or not, but they don’t have to rule or ruin our lives.
As the biblical writer put it: “Let us throw off everything that hinders, and blockages (sin) that so easily entangle us” (Hebrews 12:1b).
We are given the creativity, intelligence, collaboration, determination and grace to risk bumping our heads, unclogging, and living free!
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