Like a Bird
I don't like doing it, but I have to. In the end, the mess is more trouble than I like. But the fact remains that if I don't pretend to be a bird, I'll be way too stinky.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Ad Seg (the Hole) gives us the opportunity to shower. The high-pressure cold water really does help, along with the soap and shampoo that lather under the steady stream of H2O. But it's what we do the other four days that is more important. We call them "birdbaths."
I prepare by moving anything off the floor that might get wet. Next I place a bath towel on the floor, right where I know the water will try to escape. I then plug the hole in the sink with a piece of milk carton and begin to fill the sink. Once it is full, I balance my soap on the rim of the sink and turn off the lights.
In the dark, I don my birthday suit and sit on the toilet, facing the wall. The sink is about one foot away from the toilet. With one hand, I use my half-pint milk carton to scoop water from the sink, splashing from head to toe. With the other hand, I use my soap to lather up, and then go back to my milk carton for the rinse. About half of the water lands in the toilet while the other half ends up on the floor. I then dry off, put on boxers and a shirt, and begin the part of the routine I truly hate-picking up all the gray water off the floor.
With the towel already on the floor, I begin to herd all the water into one large pool. Slowly and deliberately I wring the water out of the towel into the sink until it's nearly all gone. Then I clean the soap scum from the toilet and sink. From start to finish, my birdbath takes about thirty minutes.
Did I mention I don't like this activity? But if I want to stay clean and healthy, I must be like a bird between shower days. This also applies to every believer in Christ.
As believers, we faithfully attend church. Some go on Saturdays, some on Sundays. Then we might add another night, for a Bible study. These services are great. We hear God's Word from a minister. More often than not, the sermon causes us to examine our walk with the Lord. We leave, renewed. But it's what we do in-between these services that is equally important. We must take "Wordbaths."
I'm risking sounding too religious, but I truly believe we need to bathe in God's Word daily, and not just in a hurry, with a sideways glance, as we think about other things. We can't just splash water on our faces and call ourselves clean. We must take the time to prepare, by consciously washing our souls, minds, and hearts with the powerful and oh-so-personal Word of our living Lord. We must remove the protective covering and allow His Word to absorb into us.
The world is so polluted; surely we need a daily touch-up. Even if we don't participate in worldly things, our minds still get bombarded with them. The radio, internet, and work leave their dirty marks on us. If we don't take the time to purposely renew our minds, on a daily basis, that dirt will build up. Eventually our lives begin to stink. We try to blame others for our own dirt build-up, but in the end, we are the ones who carry the odor.
There is a solution; take a "Wordbath" every day. If you do, you will begin to see how easily the pollution of the world can be washed off.
Adrian Torres is incarcerated at California Institution for Men. Enjoy more of his writing at thewallstalkstories.wordpress.com
