his week I have been frustrated with my computer’s slow and inconsistent processing. Sometimes, and typically when my brain has already anticipated the next thing I need to write, my computer pauses to “spin in place” for anywhere from five seconds to five minutes.

So I downloaded a maintenance program called “MacKeeper 2012,” and performed a system scan to see what might be going on

It turns out (who knew!) that keeping over 15,000 14.2 megapixel photographs on a Mac mini can compromise processing speeds.

The program also told me that “108 issues are affecting your system performance and wasting 145.5 MB of disk space.”

Additionally, it seems that I have “13.4 GB of duplicate files.”

INTERVENTION: First – and because I’ve learned this before, the hard way – I backed up all my writing files to my new WD “two-terabyte” external hard drive.

Then I instructed my computer to “empty the trash.” Over 25,000 were deleted.

I may not fully understand concepts like megabyte, gigabyte, and terabyte, but “25,000-plus items deleted” certainly got my attention. In fact it scarily got my attention. Now I hope my little Mac mini has enough information on board in order to reboot after I turn it off!

SYSTEM CLEANING: I can’t help but notice the correlation between my “108 issues” computer and my often “spinning in place” spiritual life. I don’t just have tens of thousands of duplicate files going nowhere fast in my head, I have tens of thousands of “corrupt” and useless files too. Sometimes it feels like I’m completely clogged up.

That’s one reason I try to program in a spiritual “system scan” at least a couple of times a week. The mystics call it “emptying ourselves;” Christianity understands it as inviting the Holy Spirit to clean house. Jesus did this by taking quiet time apart to be alone with God, and Charles Wesley wrote (in his hymn “And Can It Be”), that Jesus “emptied himself of all but love.”

The bottom line here is that we seem to routinely clutter our spirits with distractions, questionable material, unnecessary files, trivia, wasted time… and a thousand other corruptions that serve to compromise our connection with God’s grace, God’s clarity, and God’s invitation to live and experience the abundant life.

The only intervention that – in my experience – always serves to optimize my life is Jesus. God making me whole again and healing me from the insides out.

– DEREK