By Bill King
I’m writing what you are now reading on Easter Sunday afternoon. After getting off to a rather nippy start, the day has turned into a beautiful one. We had a sunrise service before the sun had actually risen at Lanier Baptist Church. We had intended to meet outside to watch the sun rise in the sky as we commemorated and celebrated our risen Lord. The cold weather, coupled with a slight mist of rain, drove us inside for our service. Easter seems to always be colder than the days leading up to it and certainly the ones to follow. Winter will likely, and hopefully, sputter on away, and we will soak up the sun in the warmer days to come.
The bright sunlight is streaming through the windows in my living room. A rectangle of light illuminates a small section of our hardwood floor. It is just the right size for Cocoa (15) to sunbathe in. She looks over at me with what looks like a slight grin on her face. I think she thinks I’m responsible for her own personal little sauna, but we all know I had nothing to do with it. It is simply one of the perks of springtime.
My favorite seasons of the year are spring and fall. I love the green of spring. Everything seems to have come back to life after a long winter’s nap. The fresh hues of green are highlighted with bursts of vibrant colors from the blossoms and blooms. Of course, the downside of all this beauty is that covering of yellow pollen that coats everything and clogs our nostrils. It is nothing to sneeze at!
Spring is also the annual time of deep cleaning. While the phrase “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is not a direct quote from the Bible, the concept is biblical. My Mama believed in both…cleanliness and godliness, that is. I’m fairly convinced that she scrubbed a couple of layers of skin off the backs of my ears. We never had much of a house, but what we did have was clean. Every spring, we pulled things from the house and hauled them outside. I gave thanks during those days that we didn’t have a lot of things! Quilts and bedspreads were hung out on the clotheslines.
Even mattresses were given a good dose of sunning. I enjoyed Cocoa’s sunbathing more than I did the ones our mattresses took all those years ago. Oh, I didn’t really care that they were sunbathing. What I didn’t enjoy was that I had to help lug them outside and then back in at the end of the day. I mumbled and murmured, griped and grumbled, as children will do. To add insult to my injury, while all those things were outside being “cleaned” by the sun, guess what we did on the inside? Mama said with the house so empty, it was a great time to “deep clean” inside. I thought we might have to repaint the baseboards by the time we finished scrubbing them with bleach and Comet and who knows what else. I stayed as far away from her as possible for fear that she might decide to check behind my ears one more time!
I would ask Mama, “Why do we have to do all this?” She answered, “Because everything needs a good-deep cleaning every now and then.” I’ve come to realize that she was right. I’ve also come to realize that “everyone” needs a good-deep cleaning every now and then too…and not just the kind that comes from soap and water.
