December 14, 2018

The Stench Tells the Truth

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

– Romans 7:15-16

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. – Galatians 6:7-8

Yesterday I once again had the opportunity to deskunk a dog. Actually, this time it was two dogs. I have lost track of the number of times my oldest dog has been sprayed by a skunk. This time he led his baby brother into the fray.

To be honest, this time the skunk got the worst of it. He lost his life. That doesn’t generally happen. But the rest of it was a repeat performance of the worst kind.

He knows what’s coming. No matter how many times he rolls in the grass and dirt, the smell remains. No matter how many times he tries to rid himself of the foul odor, it stays deeply present in his long fur.

That’s how it is with us. We sin and we pay the consequences for those sins. We say the wrong thing and people turn away. We do the wrong thing and people remember how deeply our actions hurt them. We don’t show up when we should and people understand how little we truly care.

We end up smelling foul in a way we never intended. We end up with consequences we never expected. But we should have expected them.

I have warned my dog again and again to stay away from skunks. He doesn’t listen. Experience hasn’t taught him anything. And, I suppose, it’s a whole lot better than when he takes on a snake. That almost gives me a heart attack. I try to see the positive in a bad situation.

But it doesn’t change the reality. Both dogs were confined to the backyard while I prepared a special concoction designed to rid them of the stench. They had to endure its application, wait for it to do its magic, then rinse and repeat. It’s December. It’s not a good time to be outside wet. It had to happen.

We face the consequences of our actions too. We can point fingers at others, we can make excuses, we can tell ourselves the odor doesn’t come from us. None of that makes it true. We reap what we sow. When we sow distrust and lies, we bear the consequences of those actions. When we sin, we feel the pain that comes when our sins are exposed.

Most of the time we know better. We understand somewhere deep inside that what we’re doing is wrong but we do it anyway. Just like my dog, we hope we won’t be found out but there’s just no chance our actions won’t reap consequences. It’s something to remember before we go where we know we shouldn’t be.