Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Scent Of A Student


As far as I know, there was no such thing as hand sanitizer when I grew up. When Dad was hospitalized in St. Louis for an extended period, I noticed you could not take ten steps without a Purell dispenser. When we are sorting money for our Honduras/Haiti collection, hand sanitizer is really a big deal; change is filthy!! The following is about the importance of clean hands. It is from October 18, 2006.


I mentioned in another post (Female Perspective) how Riley, a girl in my fifth period class, brought me a bottle of Bath And Body Works Mango-Mandarin Hand Sanitizer to prove her point that guys don't pay attention to germs. Since I had it in my classroom, I began passing it around to my students in all five periods. Soon, Brianna brought in three additional bottles of hand sanitizer, this time called Germ X Germ Blaster. The three scents are Gnarly Green Apple, Awesome Orange, and Razzle Dazzle Blueberry. Additionally, Riley came up with another Bath And Body Works bottle, this time Raspberry fragrance. You have to imagine this scene: each day as we review for our quizzes or memory verses, these bottles of perfumed hand sanitizers get passed around the room. What is amazing to me is that most boys love it. The males prefer the Bath And Body Works label because they contain exfoliation beads which allegedly aerate the skin. I told the football players they will be less likely to fumble if they exfoliate their hands. They believe me! My classroom takes on a terrific aroma of the mixture of all these smells, probably accelerated by the alcohol which is the basis of the cleaners. We're starting to get low- someone is going to have to donate to the Room 258 Hand Hygiene Fund. I am certain someone will. The tradition is taking off on a waft of raspberry delight!

To you, the whole thing might seem extremely silly but it isn't to my eighth and tenth graders. Each class needs its own rituals and mine right now, for whatever unearthly reason, is the sharing of hand sanitizer. It breaks the monotony which settles in after the newness of the school year wears off. The kids share and they can act a little silly in a moderate way. And each day, when the bell rings and they exit to their next class or head home for the evening, their hands are clean and their aroma makes them pleasant to be around. In Psalm 24, David associates spiritual sanitation with entrance to the presence of the Almighty. In verses 3 and 4a, he ponders:

"Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart..."

We have the clean hands part covered. Now, we just have to master the pure heart provision. One tradition down, one to go! Any suggestions?


Applicable quote of the day:
"Cleanliness and order are not matters of instinct; they are matters of education and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them."
Benjamin Disraeli


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org

1 comment:

Sherry Ann said...

Coach, (my own opinion) a sincere smile reflects a good heart. you already have clean hands, then a show of those sparkling teeth wont hurt. :))