Week 2 October 2026 – REFLECTION ON THINGS THAT DAWN ON US

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”   Proverbs 4:18

Last year I  found the most amazing new alarm clock on Amazon.  It has twelve alarms, and in case of a power outage resets itself.  That way you take your many pills on time.  It came advertised as a large desk clock with “Day of the Week” for people with dementia.  Frankly, I’m just a plain old senior who likes to see what time it is when I make my trips to the bathroom to get rid of the water I dutifully drank during the day.  Finally, here comes the relevant part.  At midnight sharp when it’s pitch-black, the display makes the night vanish and replaces it with “Predawn” until morning.  Don’t ask just when that is, because I’m too sleep-deprived to care.

For years I had displayed on my refrigerator the above quote from Proverbs, but also combined with verse 4:19, “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”  Feel free to yawn, but it has only dawned on me lately that “righteous” is the key word in the full quote.  From Isaiah 64:5-6 we learn that our sinfulness is a “stench” in God’s nostrils, and our righteousness is “as filthy rags.”  Who would guess that when we show up in church in our Sunday best, that we may actually STINK!  Thank God He doesn’t hold His nose, but does hold us responsible to look for the remedy.

Let’s start with the cartoon “Pickles” that features the long-married ornery old Earl and Opal, his forever cajoling wife.  He would rather be licked to death by a dog than take a bath.  Fittingly, this takes us right into Ephesians 5:25-26, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing with the word.”  Jesus, the Word of God that became flesh, dwelled with His disciples for three years.  On the night of their last supper when He was about to be betrayed, He wrapped a towel around His waist and washed the disciples’ feet in a basin.  Predictably, Peter protested, then went whole hog in the opposite direction and wanted his hands and head washed as well.  Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet.”  He had already made them clean by His sanctifying work in their lives.

In our day it takes no mud-stomping to get our feet dirty.  Step into the electronic arena of You-Tube and social media, then marvel how sinful behavior is applauded and promoted.  Salute the first openly gay zucchini buyer and the thrice-married talk show host pontificating on solid family values.  God’s name is routinely taken in vain and “Jesus Christ” becomes an expletive.  Buddha was big on enlightenment 2600 hundred years ago and left an actual footprint in Laos.  It never gets dirty and is a sacred site of veneration for his faithful followers.  Jesus came as the “Light of the World” and convinced us that walking with Him may make for dirty feet, but leaves us marvelously clean.