After a year like 2020, I was eager for a fresh start to 2021. On New Year’s Day I set out from my house with ipod in hand, planning to walk for miles listening to worship music, and contemplating what “recovery” might look like this year. Much to my chagrin, I walked out of the garage to discover trash strewn all across our neighborhood. It was trash day, and a storm the night before had blown over the trash cans, as far as my eyes could see. That’s when I heard God’s still, small voice . . . “pick up the trash”. And so I did, for hours. The photo here is a bag of trash towards the end of my efforts, when I was picking up the final leftover remnants. It was then that I heard God’s still, small voice once again . . . “your job all year will be picking up the trash, cleaning up messes all around you in the world.” What a mess we have, and with it a spiritual season of opportunity for the Church at Work. As it says in Zechariah 4:10, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…”