What Lurks Beneath The Fridge

(Disclaimer: Not my apartment!)

It's hard for me to comprehend but I have lived in my apartment for seventeen years. That's four years longer than any other place I have called home. It's as long as my folks lived in Nebraska and that seemed like an eternity. I like it here and I don't like moving around. Plus, the complex is good to me. They are quick to address problems, it's quiet, the pool is awesome, and it's only four minutes from school/church. Several weeks ago, I noticed several tears in the linoleum in my kitchen floor. The wonderful Elaine, one of the managers, dispatched the maintenance to inspect it and they decided I needed a floor. Within ten days, or last Tuesday, it was installed when I was at school. I never saw them come or go but when I walked inside my abode, there was my new kitchen covering. It looks like rock tile- I'm pretty sure it's not but it is sweet. I could not be happier with the result. One of my dear friends, Yanping, surmised I might start cooking more but that would be a stretch.

I would be remiss, though, to not reveal the whole story. There was an ugly side to the vignette. You see, the flooring crew gave me a present. They left the kitchen trash can with a brand new trash bag liner and it was, I would guess, about 40% full. The disgusting material residing in the trash receptacle was what they swept out from under the stove and refrigerator when they removed the old floor and laid down the new. It was disgusting. And I had even used the broom and spot mopped before I left in the morning. From the look of that bag, I am the worst house keeper in metro Houston and maybe points east and west. My belief is that I'm not all that bad but based on the evidence in the trash can, I would be unanimously convicted.  

We all know the phrase sweep it under the rug in reference to hiding something we don't want to deal with or come to light. Well, I have never consciously made a desposit in the space under my GE stove or refrigerator. And yet that garbage got there somehow. I'm not big on pulling out the couch or bed to vacuum under but under those two pieces of furniture is more likely to be dust which seems more palatable. I clean feverishly when I know there will be guests but not where it is most needed. In Matthew 23, Jesus makes references to dishes and cups and tombs which look good on the outside but inside are stuffed with every kind of filth and rottenness. He makes the point that looking good to the world spirtually can be deceptive; we can still be lawless and hypocritical in the part of us we keep hidden away. My kitchen floor is like that. Well, it was. I'm assuming it is clean enough down there now to eat dinner off that new tile and not worry a bit. Sometimes, we have to pull back the appliances and do a thorough inspection. I need to do that with my heart, as well. It might not be too pretty.

Applicable quote of the day:

"Show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually clean kitchen, and 8 times out of 9 I'll show you a man with detestable spiritual qualities."

Charles Bukowski

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

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E-mail me at steve@hawleybookss.com