Booting Unwelcome Guests

This letter was written by Brooke Celeste Revere when she was nineteen years old. It was published in a small newsletter in 1999.

 
Skye, hello there! I just visited your site from Glen's computer. It's great and loads much faster on his system. No wonder people want you to build web sites for them. 

Just to let you know, this trip has been marvelous for me. Whether I go to college or not, I needed this trip to prepare for my future. 

I had no idea how easy it is to be by yourself. Inside, you never really leave. You are still the same person, even when your surroundings change. Remember that phrase, "Help! I'm trapped in a human body!"? It has become very real to me now. Just think, you never leave this body, no matter where you go. You can't escape, you can't run away, you can't break out, you can't bring anyone in. You're stuck, along with any feelings or worries that you allow to come in. 

The only guests that can penetrate your walls are thoughts and concepts. You and your thoughts are always alone. While I've been on this trip, I took a look around at the guests that I've been harboring, and decided to do some serious housecleaning. I didn't like some of the guests that I've allowed to board in my house. 

Bitterness and Resentment were rather easy, they hadn't been here long and they didn't have much luggage to pack. Boredom and Uselessness fled before I got to their room, and now I am cleaning the mess they left behind. 

But Worry and The-Future-Is-Dim have slammed their doors in my face and refuse to unlock them. I will have to call the locksmith, Prayer, and the moving van company, Hope, to evict my unwelcome guests. 

I have been repainting and improving some of my rooms so Contentment and Ever-At-Peace will feel more at home here. I would have done it sooner, but Procrastination gave me some trouble. He was in the habit of dumping his garbage in the hall, making it difficult to do anything. I'm trying to get that corrected. 

Disappointment was always vandalizing my house, though I caught him and his accomplice, Vanity, red-handed. Vanity seemed like such a gentle and harmless creature, until I realized that she was the one opening her window for Disappointment to sneak in. 

I didn't realize how much responsibility it is to be a landlord. I tried to shut myself up in  my bedroom and let the rest of the house run itself. But while living in a new environment, I  awakened to the realization that a small Kingdom inhabits my own soul. Either I can let it run  wild, or I can take responsibility for it. I choose how to run my Kingdom and who I entertain. I pray that with Christ's help, my little household will be a better place to live in the years to come. 

See you soon, sis. Love you a lot! 

-Brooke Celeste