the parable of the electric toothbrush

There was once a girl who faced a daunting task.  While she was faithful to brush her teeth, floss, wash her face and moisturize regularly, her medicine cabinet was a mess.

Of course it looked fine to all visitors because she simply kept the medicine cabinet door closed.  It truly was none of their business.


Even if she were to open the door quickly in front of a friend, it didn't look that bad.  Did it?

But it would never pass the test.

 "This is filthy," claimed the Cleaner.  "Clean it and you'll look great."

So she too everything off the most used shelves and wiped them down.  Then put things back as they were.  Truly she felt a bit better. 

But it wasn't just what was needed.

"This is so cluttered," gasped the organizer.
"Organize it, and you'll be efficient."

So she tidied up a bit. And it was nice.  But it wasn't enough.  

"Hey, is that petroleum jelly and aluminum containing antiperspirant I spy!" warned the environmentalist.  "Replace those and you'll be healthy."

Not totally convinced, our girl made an effort to pull her deodorant forward to inspire her to grab for it first.

The space and motion expert advised her to be hard core honest and get rid of all the baggage she didn't need to be carrying...

"Do you need all those lotion samples?  Do you even wear contacts?  Simplify and you'll be responsible."

Buy the best and only cry once....   Good quality ingredients last far longer than a shelf and cheap stuff that doesn't work.   Right?

In her other ear, the frugality expert chastised her for throwing ANYthing away without repurposing it.

"You're also really vain to be so brand conscious, even if your face does break out in a rash when you use any other product.  Save and you'll be a good steward."

So our girl ruthlessly went through and tossed all the random samples and sludge she wasn't using - but she carefully turned the bottles sideways on the bottom shelf so that the brand labels wouldn't show.  This also pleased the time and motion specialist because it allowed for easier hand access now that there was breathing room between the toiletries.

BUT ONE THING ALL THE CRITICS AGREED ON WAS THAT SHE SHOULD KEEP THE EXPENSIVE ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH! 

 IT WAS TRULY THE MOST BENEFICIAL RESOURCE ON THE SHELF! 

The girl had initially invested in the expensive toothbrush at her dentist's advice.  It was not an issue of brand vanity, convenience or really anything but obedience and wanting a healthy mouth.  But there was a problem.  The batteries had died somewhere along the way.

No problem, right?               

           Wrong.

The girl had the right toothbrush.  The girl had fresh batteries.  The girl had replaced batteries before.

So she had the resource, the tools, past experience... but the toothbrush was still dead.

In fact it had been sitting on her shelf useless while she relied on her own power to get those gums healthy.   Lest you be quick to call her lazy,  she had truly tried to replace the batteries.

She put the batteries in one way.

And then another.

Nothing.

But something made her try again, even though she'd likely end up with the same result.

As she emptied the batteries yet another time, she looked deep and saw something that had been there all along - she just had never noticed it.  There were little guides, available to anyone who looked.

Can't see it?  



Here.  Look a little closer.  (See the little +  and the   -   ?)

Now, she actually knew what positive and negative were... but she could never remember which end was which on the battery.  "Why can't they just put a plus and minus on the battery?

.......oh."

She then just followed the guide.  Such a stupidly simple thing.  Plop.  Plop.  Click.  Push the button and POWER!

Later that night, as the girl was brushing her teeth, she thought about how the toothbrush was so very much like her walk with the Lord, especially the daily time she spent with Him.

She had tried to please every other church goer in the way she organized her life, even if they never saw behind her closed door.  But none of it was enough.

In the end, he toothbrush  -  like her relationship with the Lord  -  was something they all agreed on.

She had tried all the energy going one way - as if it all depended on her own efforts and performance.

She had tried all the energy going the other way - Trying not to strive, leaving it all up to God.

But it wasn't until there was a circuit flowing back and forth that there was any active and effective power.  Both needed to be present and working at the same time together!  (One battery couldn't merely be present and dead relying on the other to do all the work...)

It was a relationship.    An active exchange.  A source of electric power that, used properly, would bless her in so many ways.

She also realized that the others who had figured out their own "toothbrushes" could care less about what her toiletries looked like or how she organized them.  They simply said knowingly,  "Nice smile."