by Ms. Bea Leones
Typhoon Frank caused a very great damage to our country lately. Kalibo was one place that was greatly hit. People have seen and experienced the most incredible devastation in their life caused by flash flood. Many people lost their homes and loved ones and are still suffering until now. I was lucky enough to have my place in the fourth floor of a building and so I witnessed the water level soaring up in so short a time. While taking pictures I didn’t help feeling a little bit guilty being safe and comfortable in my place while others were in deep water struggling for their lives. I thought about the kids, the babies and the olds. I thought about my family in Capiz. Eventually I learned they were alright. The province wasn’t badly hit.
After the flash flood , came thick mud all over the place. I reported for work the following Monday to see the damage in our office. The water reached up to three feet inside. All our computers were under water. The mud inside were almost ankle deep . Everything were in chaos. It was already a week when the water was restored and the thick mud that was all over the office were already cleared. In our pantry, I noticed not a few things were still unwashed and so I decided to clean it up myself.
I was cleaning then, washing the kitchen utensils particularly those with mud. Some plastic utensils and food containers I throw away to save me from cleaning. But there was this one particular container that I didn’t want to touch. Dried mud was all over it. I was having a second thought of throwing it away. I decided to finish the rest and later decide what to do with it. I have been cleaning a lot from the kitchen already and I felt tired. Added to that, the water flowing from the faucet were very slow. Inside of me tells me to start cleaning the container already but I kept on hesitating because the mud was thicker than most of the things I cleaned. Nonetheless, I started cleaning it.
I was pulling away the thick mud when something inside me ask, “What if you were that food container, Bea, how would you feel?” Suddenly a realization came into me. I saw myself in that container. In reality, my sins are indeed thicker than the mud that has clothed it. As I poured water into it, the mud softened and I could easily remove the mud. I know my sin could not be softened by a drop of water, it has to be a drop of the blood of Jesus. God would not have second thought in cleaning this container. He wouldn’t even throw any that is in sight even though how tired He would be. He love me so much He would make a way for me to become useful no matter how thickly clothed I would be of mud or sin.
Suddenly I felt my self energized as I started scrubbing the container with all my might. Since mud had dried up, it can not be easily removed. The container seems so really and very like me! A lot of filth has dried up in my body because of sin. As I was scrubbing it I found myself repeating , “I want to belong, I want to be useful in the Gods Kingdom”. Slowly the brand of the container became visible. To my surprise it was not a cheaper kind but a Tupperware. One small piece of a Tupperware costs a lot these days. If only I knew what kind of a food container was it, I would have cleaned it first and didn’t hesitate to clean it no matter how hard the mud was in it.
God isn’t like me, and you. To Him everyone is special. All His creations are branded with the finest quality only He could make. No matter how thickly clothed we may be of sin, He will make a way to make us shine and become as white a snow. He doesn’t lose patient is scrubbing us even though how hard the mud has clothed us because of our stubbornness and pride. He keeps on scrubbing our mud by calling us, prodding us, teaching us. He uses our friends, our family, cell phones, computers, books, internet and many others as His scrub to get our attention. Every incidents in our daily life, He uses it to purify us, to keep us stronger and to make us gain the virtues we need like patience, humility, love and many others.
Most of all we have the sacrament of reconciliation to cleanse our soul and be united with Him again. Every single mud or sin inside us gone, thus, we are able to receive His grace and blessings.
Do you feel God's scrubbing you today?
