In the Cleansing of the Soul

What is it we need to cleanse the soul? Is it some painful penance?, two Our Fathers and five Hail Marys'? Thirty lashes with a wet noodle, a flesh removing flagging with a cat o nine tails? Is it some chanting in a sweat lodge under full moon and wolves howling? Is it a bath in the deep blue sea, eternally taking and giving back to the shore? What is is that will cleanse our beings, our spirits of this heaviness we carry so many times? How can we unburden our shoulders of old, present and God forbid future baggage? The past is unchangeable, it is what it is. It is done with, spilt milk, water under the bridge. So let it go, learn from it, do not let it happen again. The present is a gift as per Lucy to Charlie Brown, so enjoy it. It is that precious breathing moment we fill in time and space. There are no yesterdays with the present, so its our choice to make it as postive as possible and as memorable as can be so when we look back to it we can smile. We are creating our past with our present, our yesterdays with our todays, our scrapbook of life. Tomorrow is like a whisper in a lovers ear. It is not yet tangible or a consumated passion. It is an ideal and a idea, a piece of unmolded clay soon to be a wonderful creation. But still. How do we cleanse this mighty and wonderous soul of ours? For me... It is in taking breaths of clear air. Closing my eyes and feeling it fill my being. It is feeling the warmth of the radient sun on my face and letting it seep into my pores so it flows with my blood thoughout my body. It is hearing the sound of birds, wind swept trees, crashing waves of the sea or its lulling sounds as it kisses the shore. It is the sound of children playing and singing, the sound of new born baby cries, the smell of freshly turned earth and the taste of pure water. This is how I cleanse my soul with all the riches God gave us. It is His creations that fill me, renew me, energize me. The love he used to create all those things I can draw upon them to fill and cleanse my soul.