The problem with lint
Two feet of humid air separated us in the six-man shower. I really didn’t know him well, but the look in his eyes indicated he thought he knew me. One thing was for sure, though; I wasn’t interested in striking up a conversation with a stranger, especially while in my birthday suit.
“Pastor,” he said. I ignored him for two reasons. First, I greatly dislike being called “Pastor.” Second, I hoped he was talking to someone else.
“Pastor Adrian,” and now I knew the naked man was talking to me.
“Sup?” I didn’t want to answer, but I did.
“I got Jesus into my life about a year ago,” the dripping-wet stranger began. “But I keep backsliding into sin.”
I may not have known this man well, but I knew enough to sarcastically want to say, “Shocker! It might be because of the crowd you hang out with!”
Occasionally I had seen this man attend our chapel services. However, more often than not he was seen in groups that normally one would stay away from. Since he lives doors away from me, I had often observed people dropping off bags of food in exchange for large manila envelopes.
“Um,” I replied, as I tried to be straightforward. “It’s terrible how our flesh keeps wanting the desires of this world, especially when our Father has mercifully and lovingly forgiven and cast away our sins, making us new.”
Being in the buff, and standing two feet away from someone in the same “non-outfit,” I felt very uncomfortable even having this conversation. But I had opened the door by answering, and he didn’t even pause as he marched right in.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it!” he answered, with a little too much excitement. “I keep going back to what I like most.”
“And that is?” I hesitantly asked.
“Porn!” he responded, too quickly for me. I now felt even more uncomfortable. Not only was I naked and having a serious conversation with another naked man, but this conversation was now about porn. I should have asked to continue later, when we were out of the shower, but I didn’t.
“You know, the orthodox Jews once a year cast their garments in a river to wash away the lint.” I paused to think about the name of this ceremony. “I think it’s called Tashlikh.”
I wasn’t sure if he was following what I was saying, so I dared to look his way to get some sort of confirmation. What I found was a fully-lathered man looking straight at me. I quickly looked away and continued with my thought. “Using Micah chapter 7, the orthodox, in a way, are casting away their sins; getting rid of them, tossing them out of their lives. You should consider doing the same.”
“So you are saying I need to wash my clothes better.” I guess I should have been a little clearer.
“No.” I was done showering, and out of my comfort zone, but I stayed a little longer to explain. “What I’m saying is that you keep falling back into porn and everything that comes with it. Because you haven’t gotten rid of it. If porn is your weakness, then cast it out far from your access, just as Father did to our sin. He cast our sin as far as the east is from the west.”
I continued to explain that he needed to go into his cell, take inventory of all that was clearly ungodly, and throw it in the trash. His love and gratitude to God should give him the strength and motivation. His trust of God, and obedience to Him, should guide him through it.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he said as we turned off our individual showers.
“It’s never easy to starve the flesh.” I knew this from personal experience. “But once you rid the flesh from its temptations, you begin to lean on your Father for your needs and desires.”
We talked a little more as we dried off and dressed. I learned he also rented out the porn pictures he had, to make a few dollars on the side. But he understood what he had to do and promised he would do it that very day.
As believers, you and I need to have a Tashlikh ceremony every so often. I’ve learned that many times I accumulate earthly items that draw me away from serving God. We might or might not know we have them, but when they are there we easily get sucked in.
So take the time to inventory your life. If you find lint on your garment, cast it into the river.
...finding lint even in my belly button.
© 2016 Friends of Adrian. Adrian is an inmate in California.
Adrian’s book The Walls Talk is available on Amazon.com and other dealers.
