I received this update from Larry Thompson today. Larry and Stacy have been working hard on the chapel bathrooms and… well, I’ll let Larry explain!
V.B.O.
The looks were becoming increasingly regular. A walk in the door, a quick sniff, eyes opened wide and then the look to a friend to confirm the truth. Yep, B.O. “Bad Odor” and in this case it was V.B.O. or, “Very Bad Odor.” Now it wasn’t that I tried to ignore the VBO – a few brave sleuthers tried to sniff it down and several times we thought we had found the culprit. The problem was we just didn’t sniff deep enough. We even tried to mask the VBO with industrial strength air freshener. It still didn’t work – you just can’t mask VBO.
We finally realized that we had to look deeper and find the hidden reason behind the noxious odor that was assaulting our senses. The reality was that deep down I knew where the problem originated. But to root out this odor was going to require some major demolition work and sadly, it was demolition work that was going to demolish the facelift we had given to that area a few short years ago. And now we were going to have to tear it all up. Of all places to have this happen it almost seemed sacrilegious because it was happening in Camp Li Lo Li’s Chapel.
As I worked alongside a crew of volunteers I could not help but think of the analogy in our lives. We live in a society that caters to the surface. “Cover it up, mask it, hide it, bury it, paint it… whatever it takes don’t let them see what is below the surface!” is the mantra in much of our culture today. The problem with that is that we walk then in a world that has a “Very Bad Odor.”
As Christians, children of God Almighty it is easy for us to stray into this superficial and masked world. King David wrote in Psalms 139: 23,24 to ”Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. I believe we need to ask God to do just that in our lives – in essence to take the pry bar, to use a hammer so that any noxious odor in our lives can be revealed and taken care of by our Father.
The Apostle Paul clarifies in greater detail just who we are and what our aroma should be like when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:15,16 “ For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” As believers this indeed should be our mantra. The question is: are you willing to have some demo work take place in your life?
I look forward to observing the looks on individual’s faces as they walk into the Chapel with all the repairs done. And knowing that not only is the surface functional and pleasing to the eyes but greater still is the knowledge that deep down it is all is well.