Spa Time

It seemed out of place. I looked at the little bottle in my hand that said Kelly’s Spa Bath Gel. Yet I was getting ready to use it in a less than spa-type facility. I was in a concrete building on the grounds of the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day, Oregon.  

My husband and I had traveled to John Day to spend the weekend at a motorcycle rally. Somehow the word spa just didn’t fit. We were sleeping in a tent and cleaning up in the facilities provided … the aforementioned concrete building. There was no heating or air conditioning. Just a toilet and shower head in the little square room. Not even vinyl covered the concrete floor.  

A few weeks before, I had been visiting a daughter in California. As a treat, she had taken me to the Mission Inn in Riverside for a 24 hour stay. We had pampered ourselves in the luxurious spa setting … plush carpets, thick towels, scented gels and powders. And now I found myself in this concrete room with a rubber mat covering the shower drain. 

But the gel was still the same … smelled wonderful and felt silky on my skin.  

Isn’t that how Christ-followers are supposed to be? We need to provide the same love and caring whether we are talking to a wealthy person or someone who is homeless. Who we are should not change just because we’ve traveled from a spa-type setting to a concrete building on the fairgrounds.  

Our spirit still needs to emit a wonderful fragrance and feel silky on the other person’s soul.

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” Colossians 3:12-14 (MSG)