This morning, as we said our goodbyes at training camp, I hugged people who hadn’t showered in 4 days or more.
And they hugged me too.
And nobody cared because we loved each other.
In the span of 10 days, that is the kind of love I grew to have for these people. I think that’s incredible. I think that kind of love is a miracle that should be acknowledged and celebrated and encouraged.
I think that’s the kind of love we should always be striving to give.
I ate with my hands, sharing communal plates with people who only days before were strangers to me. If you know me at all, you know that eating after other people is a huge thing to me. I won’t even eat after my own family. But I made a choice coming into this mission trip that I would sacrifice these ideas of “hygiene,” “cleanliness,” and “sanitation.” Yes, they’re important, but, no, they don’t have to be important in the ways I have focused so heavily on them. And I can almost guarantee that there will be even less sanitary things to contend with on the race when I’m in some random country with whatever toilet facilities and eating norms are present.
These days at camp, I became well acquainted with dirt and mud. My standards of cleanliness were challenged, as I expected them to be, and I consider myself successful because of my willingness to adapt. It took some time to get used to the dirt in my tent and on my well-worn clothes, but by the end it didn’t both me as much. Admittedly, I think I may look for some kind of tiny vacuum to pack for the trip, but if I don’t find one I’m ok with that.
I’m not going on the race to stay in my safety bubble of “clean,” I’m going on the race because loving my neighbor and spreading the gospel matters more to me than my standards of hygiene and cleanliness. I trust God to sustain me, whatever that means in whatever situations arise.
So, yes, I made a purposeful decision to change myself for this week, for these people, for this community, and for this mission. I am called for the race and I am laying down these ideals and habits as a sacrifice before the Lord. God asks us for everything, not just the things we’re comfortable giving up control over, not just the things we think are safe to give up. God knows far better than I do. So I lay my health, my vanity, my standards, my hygiene, and my understanding of germs before Him because I know He can take care of them far better than I can.
I know I have a lot to learn, but I will try to take this lesson from training camp and carry it forth into my daily life. I will focus less on cleanliness and more on love. And, if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get the opportunity to shake some dirty hands and hug some dirty necks. And maybe those people will know love just a little more clearly because I did. I know I felt blessed by the people who chose to love my dirty self these past 10 days.
