Skeleton Hygiene

When I say the following things they may come across as strange, lazy, or downright blasphemous. But, I must be honest and tell you that…I am “tired” (synonyms: exasperated, irked, burned out, pooped, sick of, etc.) of being a human being! Here is what I mean:

I will turn 50 years old soon (February 2017). And, after spending the first 49 years being stuck in this human flesh that is filled with my skeleton, I am “tired” of…showering, shaving (at my age I shave my nose and ears as much as my face), eating, brushing teeth, flossing teeth, going to the bathroom (especially during the night), buying food, preparing food, eating food, drinking water, eating vegetables, cutting my hair, washing my hair, removing gray hairs (from my face, nose, ears and head), putting on deodorant, dealing with pimples (yes, even at age 50), drinking daily fiber to stay “regular,” yanking out rogue hairs across entire body (I refuse to be one of those old men growing “wings” on my eyebrows) taking a daily vitamin, exercising (not much of this done anymore), getting sick, allergies, going to the dentist, joints becoming stiff and stuck, muscles shrinking, former 6-pack abs now loosening flab, eyesight fading, skin wrinkling and spotting (on my face, neck, chest…basically all over) etc, etc, etc! And now, after dealing with all of these human hygiene and maintenance needs for the past 49 years, as if all of these were not enough, in a few weeks I have my first colonoscopy—hip hip hooray! I am certain this will be a thrilling experience that I will now look forward to having every 10 years (I will just add it to the list)!

Did you know by the time we are 50 years old the average person has taken close to 20,000 showers, and has eaten around 54,000 meals, and has gone to the bathroom over 100,000 times? In addition, out of the first 50 years we are on this planet we sleep around one-third of the time. Which means, we have rested our poor, tired, weary, fatigued, flesh and skeleton with over 16 years of sleep, which is over 6,000 days, and over 146,000 hours, and over 8,760,000 minutes, and over 525,600,000 seconds, of sleep! No wonder the spirit of God living in me has become “tired” of being stuck in my human skin and skeleton! Therefore, I am officially in a “brouhaha” with my flesh, bones, and my human hygiene! Enough of caring for this flesh! It makes no sense…if our flesh and our bones just age and die and end up being buried in the dirt anyway, why did God arrange it so we must spend a majority of our time on earth doing non-stop human hygiene and maintenance?

As we know, the Bible says we are made in the image of God; however, we have all fallen away from the perfect reflection of His image. Meaning, we will not become the highest definition of being God’s image until our spirit—the Spirit of Jesus Christ that lives in us since we accepted Christ—is released from our flesh and bones at our death. Until then, you and I as Christians are stuck in our skin and skeleton, and we must continue on with our daily human hygiene and maintenance. Our human body hygiene illustrates our preoccupation with ourselves, which illustrates our sin! Yes, our human hygiene will serve as a daily remember of our sin; but, even more so, our human hygiene will serve as a daily reminder of God’s love and grace given through Jesus Christ as He was nailed on the cross to free us from our flesh and sin (if you don’t yet know Jesus Christ personally, here is how that can happen in your life right now)! Our human flesh and skeleton, and the constant hygiene, is a reminder that this life is just the first inning of an extra-inning, never ending, baseball game (my old baseball player illustration attempt)! When we enter Heaven, we will finally be free from our self-centered fallen-ness. We will then finally be able to love and serve God, and others, completely and unconditionally for eternity! Yes, a split second after death, our human flesh and skeleton hygiene is complete!

Do you ever feel like what I wrote above? At times are you “tired” of being a human? If so, you are in great company! Considered one of the greatest and most important Christians in the history of Christianity, the Apostle Paul himself talked about his feelings of weariness about being stuck in his human flesh and skeleton. In Romans chapter 7 Paul expresses his frustrations this way, “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7: 14-15, 21-25).

So, in spite of my complaints and the arguments I have with my humanity, I will continue on in my flesh and skeleton, doing the mandatory hygiene. I will, by God’s grace, continue to daily apply and live out these additional words from Paul, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.” (Philippians 1:21-24).

With fading flesh and an aging skeleton—and with an ever-living spirit—I am sincerely yours,

Scott Nute