Will This Scratch My Soul?

Just a moment ago I was about to have a thought, the negative kind that comes unbidden when you see or hear something that annoys or angers you:  "Why does it gave to be this way?" "What is wrong with him?" "Will this never end?" Etcetera.      

Then a thought hit me, "Will this scratch my surface?" I was thinking about myself like the screen of my new iPod Touch, pristine, if a little smudged. Getting upset, putting a wrinkle in my forehead, huffing to myself--in a way it would be like dragging a razor across the surface of my soul.  

So often we are careful of our "stuff", the things we own like cars and clothes and technology,  and we try so hard to keep them in great condition. Can't you see a certain guy you know who spends hours washing and waxing his "baby"? And what about that heart-wrench you feel at the sound of your favorite sweater ripping on a sharp corner? I  know all about that (I'm the girl that reads her books almost closed so that the binding won't break), and I also know that I'm not nearly so careful in making sure I don't rip or break the gentle spirit that God gave me.

In his amazing book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis laid put his theory that every action turns a "screw" inside our souls,
slowly but surely turning us into one kind of person or another. Every time I let myself get perturbed, or proud, or impatient, I am turning a screw that makes me a worse-tempered and more sinful person. It's like an iPod screen: all of those hairline scratches really do add up, and may one day cloud my vision altogether.  

So that's something for both of us to think about as we go into the weekend.  What would your life look like if you took as great a care of your soul as your stuff?