The Washing Tank & The Bride...

Once upon a very real time in a very real place there lived a woman who cared for a family of four men: Her husband and her three male sons. Everyday she gladly and lovingly cared for these four men with love and affection...

Everywhere that these men went they were complimented for their impecable appearance. As the beautiful young woman aged she began to have health problems; her hands once young and beautiful fingers were aged and even gnarled, curving outward.



Always with a smile on her face she traded her dreams and her youth for these four men. They lived, loved, and created each one for themselves their own identities and directions. She chose to stand behind them and take care of them forsaking herself...

Time passes and her faith, love and dreams fade into one reality... Mountains of laundry and a never ending series of meals to be cooked and chores to be performed.

One day one of her sons had an idea... "I want to show mom how much I love and appreciate her." So he went and bought a washing machine for his mom!

What a beautiful machine it was! It did all the work she had formerly done without stressing mom's hands or back! She was now "free"... Free to have more time to cook or clean the rest of the house... Even though it wasn't freedom to persue a life of seeking other hobbies or explore personal interest.

How do you think the idea was received by the other men in the family? Joy? Happiness for mom? No. They were upset because of the "cost" of electricity that would now be added to the bill at the end of the month!

The son that bought the washing machine stood amazed at how they had all taken forgranted their mother for all those years! The clothes she washed, afterall, wasn't for her! Is mom not worth the small possible extra cost of energy to pay on the bill each month? Would the men of the house be willing to wash their own clothes the way mom did for so many years if mom were suddenly no longer on this earth to perform the seemingly meanial function?

My Question for you to reflect on:

How do you feel for this mom?

This is a very real true story that happened with a friend of mine in Brazil, and it made me think of another image: "A Bride"... The Bride of Christ to be more specific...


The Bride of Christ is not a building, or a sound system, or a program...

The Bride of Christ is called the "Church" and it is individual and Composit in nature.


I am the Bride of Christ, and We are the Bride of Christ.

I am the Church, and we are the Church!

I am the body of Christ, we are the body of Christ.

If I started a list of folks that are either "out of fellowship" or that are thinking of changing churches it would be quite long. People that belong to an address of composit fellowship that are being hurt or ignored. The list would be and is so long that I feel bothered enough to write about it.

Stories that I know to be true of when a popular leader disapproves of someone, that others in that fellowship make intentional efforts to "shun" them as well. No accusers, no trails, no defenses. Just those who are "in" and those who are "out". So the leaders, and Pastors do not have to be more honest than the sheep they are supposed to be "Protecting".

This will heap more judgement upon me by those who see me as a rebel in the church to say this, but it seems to me the "Christian" is more often than not, the woman at the Washing tank while "the brethren" are the four well dressed men being taking care of so that they may appear well in public only to be offended at the notion of a slight increase in the energy bill rather than the investment into the life of the one that has labored for the sake of the family.

Those who are in Leadership and in the Pulpit sin everyday just as those who are not. They need the same forgiveness and grace that everyone else needs everyday! When did Jesus turn His back on someone who reached out for Him? The disciples said, "send her away, send them away" more than once, but Jesus didn't... The woman caught in adultery... The woman at the well... Who is the church supposed to imitate: Jesus or the disciples?

Who am I? Nobody... Or maybe I'm still, somehow, the church, bride, & body even if I'm not seen, heard.