Let's Get Clean!

(Written May 6, 2008)

I just started a load of laundry – a routine task that typically does not inspire deep thoughts. But, today it did. It started with the thankfulness of lighter clothing in the summer months. May has just begun, and we have probably, by this point, seen the last of the cold snaps. Even the cool days will still not allow for long sleeves, much less sweaters and sweatshirts! So, I begin the months during which I can fit more articles of clothing in the washer at once than I was able to over the winter months. So, I shouldn’t have to wash as many loads of laundry, right?

Then my train of thought proceeded to thinking about the fact that, unlike in the winter, summer clothes will not be able to be worn more than once for the most part. The humid air will create a lot of sweat and the warm weather will invite much outdoor play. Where we could wear one set of clothes twice (and, if you’re my girls, sometimes three or four times if Mom’s not paying attention!) during the winter, once will be all we can handle in the summer. So, no, my number of loads will probably not decrease – and the volume of folding will increase! YUK!

Next I thought about what it must have been like before clothes were regularly washed and bodies were frequently bathed. (Yes, this is going somewhere!) We’ve been learning in school about ancient civilizations. The Mongols so greatly rationed water during their travels and raids that they were only allowed to wash their dishes once a week! If that’s how often they washed their dishes, you can imagine how infrequently they washed their clothes and bodies! Can you imagine the stench? No wonder Genghis Khan was such a successful conqueror – no one could stand the smell of him and his warriors! Okay, so maybe not, but still…

The ancient Romans took great pride in their bath houses and loved to bathe, but even with all of their cleanliness they didn’t have soap. They scraped their skin after the hot bath to cleanse themselves.

Olivia has also started the Little House on the Prairie series, which made me think of how difficult it was for pioneers to clean themselves. Water had to be heated over a fire or stove for bathing, so bathing was done once a week. In the winter, snow was melted and heated for those baths. The concept of spring cleaning was born due to the fact that often cleaning and washing was hard to do in the winter with frozen rivers and cold temperatures. You couldn’t hang sheets and bedding out to dry because they would simply freeze instead! So, cleaning was done when the thaw came and the days grew warm.

So, how does this apply beyond just musings about being clean? Well, I love clean things. Clean clothes and sheets feel wonderful against my skin. A completely clean house, though a rare thing, is wonderful! It’s amazing what a shower can do – clean body and hair make me feel like a new woman! And, a clean spirit is the most refreshing thing in existence.

If we were to have to go days or weeks without clean clothes or bodies, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. But, we go without clean spirits for ages and never think twice about it. It is disgusting to think about Genghis Khan and the Mongols rarely washing their dishes, but we leave the inside of our hearts crusty and expect the Holy Spirit to dwell there. If we are Christians, we have been made pure, able to stand before our holy God. But, so often we let little things build up in our lives that are just junk. We cling to our possessions and never once realize the way they scratch the smoothness of our relationship with the Lord. We worry about daily life, not recognizing the residue that leaves around the inside of our hearts. We go through the day just living life without stopping to acknowledge our Lord in all things, not understanding the cloudiness that creates on the crystal purity of our vessel. We often think that we just need to confess when we lie, cheat, steal, murder, gossip, etc. Since we’re “good people,” we think we’re okay to go through life reading our Bibles, praying, and trying to grow a little more each day. We don’t stop to think about the fact that there are little bits of gunk – things that build up little by little, day by day – that keep us from truly being who we were created to be. Then one day we can’t see the Lord at all. We can’t hear His voice. We can’t see His work. Our hearts are so scratched and covered in cloudiness and residue that we have to fall on our faces and beg for cleansing and forgiveness. We have to go through the painful process of being scraped and bleached clean.

I want to be a clean vessel. I don’t want to be the dish that came through the dishwasher, had some unnoticed stubborn residue on it from one thing or the other, but was put in the cabinet anyway. Pulled out later, it was found to be unfit for use and had to be scrubbed before use could even be considered again. I don’t want to be the pan that, instead of being washed immediately, was put in the sink for a convenient time and then had to be abrasively scrubbed to remove the hardened food. I want to be clean. I want to be washed daily and put aside, ready to be used whenever needed.