Care for Everything We Touch

Last Sunday, the deacon at our church talked about caring for everything we touch and touching it reverently.  As she stated those words, I thought of the man who had washed my car the day before.  I admittedly don't wash my car very often, but that day, I was struggling to see out of the windshield, so I knew it was time to wash off some of the dirt and grime that had accumulated over the summer months.  I headed to a local car wash where it is part automated and partly done with the human touch.  The man who washed my car that particular day was new to me.  I must say that I have never had someone wash my car so carefully (not even when I do it myself).  I watched from inside the car as he methodically, carefully, slowly and meticulously wet down the vehicle's exterior, scrubbed at the windshield, headlights and front grill, and turned the mirrors inward so that the slapping of the whirring cloths wouldn't disturb them.  After my car traveled through the automated portion of the cleaning process, the gentleman was there to meet me, towels in hand to wipe the car dry.  Again, I watched how carefully, reverently he cleaned every surface of my vehicle, using his fingers to carefully extract some pine needles that just wouldn't wash away from the depths of the area where the windshield wipers lay.  This man lived our deacon's words: caring for everything we touch and touching it reverently.  This gentleman came into my life over Labor Day weekend.  What a shining example he was of taking his labors seriously and touching everything he did with reverence.  My car has never been washed quite so kindly.