Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Short Ramble About Cleaning Toilets

Would you be willing to clean the Lord's toilets for eternity if He told you to? Cleaning toilets is humiliating work, especially if that's all someone thinks you're good for. But what if that's what the Lord decided he wanted you to do for Him? Personally, I can't handle humiliation well. I've never been able to. I can't handle watching other people being humiliated well, and I've never handled my own humiliation well.



But humiliation is what we're called to if we are called to imitate our Lord who stripped down to His underwear to wash the crap off of His disciple's feet because no one else would do it. It's humiliating work. So is cleaning toilets.



Humiliation fights against our self esteem and shows us some of the worst feelings in ourselves like a good 360 degree mirror shows us all the flaws in our body shape that we don't want to notice and try to cover and hide with well cut clothing. The truth is that humiliation can be one of the most potent tools for growth towards realization of our Union with Him, but it is also one of the most painful. It has the capability of encouraging emptying ourselves, but it also has the capability of destroying us to the point of psychosis, and only God knows how far it can safely be taken with each one of us.



I had to clean toilets in Bible School. I had to clean them at several of the places where I worked. I've gotten to the point where it doesn't bother me that much to do it anymore. But it still humiliates me when it seems like that's all people think I'm capable of. It's painful. But so is removing a cancer without anesthetic. And both procedures can be necessary to preserve one's soul

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