After the election I am going to take a long, hot, bubble bath. I will soak in that tub. I will soak to remove all the mud from this election.
I will soak to remove all the crud and dirt that accosts me in almost every waking hour. I will scrub and wash and then wash again.
I will scrub away Facebook hatred.
I will scrub away op-ed bias.
I will scrub away nasty names that are given to those who disagree.
I will scrub away lies, spin, incivility,
And as the water goes out of the tub, so will go all the dirt and grime of politics into the sewage system, only to be dug up in four years.
And I’ll get out of the tub, dry off, and spray Tresor from Lancome on my body. And the world will seem a little brighter and cleaner with all that political crud gone.
Because I have my own bias and hatred and meanness and stupidity – my stuff that needs scrubbing.
I’ll be clean at least for a little while.
Until I find something else that will make me dirty.
Because that’s what I tend to do.
And that’s why I love God so much. Because he entered into a world that was not bubble-bath clean. He entered into a world that was name-calling ugly. A world of Roman politics and tax collectors who cheated people and people who betrayed others for bags of silver. A world that didn’t know how much it needed clean, how much it needed beauty, how much it needed God Incarnate.
And He loved that world, and still does. Because we haven’t changed all that much in these 2000 years.
We still need long, hot, bubble baths for human clean, and God Incarnate for real, deep-down heart clean.
Marilyn R. Gardner 
So well said Marilyn…. Bubble Bath and God Incarnate! Clean, double clean!!
LikeLike
Yes! Double clean! I think my goal is to ride out 2016 in another country – here’s to wishing.
LikeLike
Thank you for bringing it back to us and our bias and dirt and God humbled himself to reach down and love us, GOD INCARNATE. We can get so pious in all of this and forget to look into the mirror. But yet I am so looking forward to November 7 and no more phone calls, commercials, etc. (Sometimes I wish I did not live in a swing state). Marilyn, you always have a way of bringing the everyday into a spiritual check up for me.Thanks.
LikeLike
That’s right – you have the swing stuff! And we get all the Senate stuff because thought Massachusetts is bluer than blue, our senate race is close. Thank you for the lovely last sentence :)
LikeLike
I don’t envy you wading through all those ads, debates and the name-calling. I never can understand why people can’t just debate politics without it getting into mudslinging. Surely if you can’t win on your own merits, it’s not worth it anyway. Didn’t Obama originally get in on the basis that he wanted to do things differently?
LikeLike
Exactly – wow, I love hearing your perspective too. I would have loved to ride out this election in another country. I realize that this is only my 4th election to go through in the U.S. With luck I’ll be somewhere else 4 years from now!
LikeLike
Marilyn, this blog reminded me of a tune from SOUTH PACIFIC: “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair….and send him on his way.” There are times when a bubble bath, or in this song, a good shampoo does wonders.
LikeLike
I need to go find that song! There are a lot of great lines from South Pacific I think. It’s amazing how these seemingly unrelated things can go a long way in cleansing our thoughts?!
LikeLike
I heard once, “when you fling mud, you lose ground.” I like that.
LikeLike
I like that too – a lot! I envy you riding out the election in another part of the world :) Would love to hear your perspective and that of those around you.
LikeLike
I have happily avoided most of the election promos. I am not thrilled with either candidate for various reasons, so I’m choosing the “lesser of two evils”. I have long since given up hope that politicians will save the world… more likely they will sink the ship faster than we expect. So I too am looking forward to it all being over. It’s annoying and embarrassing how they “go at it”. Most of my Costa Rican friends couldn’t care less about the election, but some are still enamored with Mr. O.
LikeLike