Cleansing power

  Saturday is often a good day for housework [if any day is good for such a task] because I have Radio4 and BBC7 to distract me. I wander round the house, switching on all the radios, and drift from room to room doing chores whilst Bob is closeted in his study trying to finish sermon preparation. I enjoy Sandi Toksvig's Excess Baggage  - especially since last year when she read out an email I had sent. Sadly I know of only one person who actually heard my moment of Great Fame - but it did happen, Mr Warhol. For about 30 seconds. I shall get my other 4½ minutes later perhaps. Then there is From Our Own Correspondent - usually brilliant pieces of writing from BBC staff round the globe. I think it is really good, and Auntie is fortunate to have such gifted people as Justin Webb, Fergal Keane, Alan Johnson and Kate Adie, who can produce not only topical news items,but also 'human interest' pieces.

BBC7 provides Vintage Comedy, and also Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion". I revel in GK's Lake Wobegon stories - the place in Minnesota where 'all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average' [the UK equivalent is Kirby Muxloe] I love the absurd inconsistencies of his Brethren Family, and identify with the angst of the Pastor's Wife at the Lutheran Church. Each PHC programme always includes a Wobegon story, and there is also lots of music [I like both sorts, Country and  Western!] often an old Gospel song or two. It is a strangely anachronistic broadcast - a bit like Sunday Half Hour with added Humour. When the film came out last year, Bob took me to Birmingham to see it, as that was the nearest showing. There weren't many of us in the Cinema - but we were all [apart from my sainted husband, who was there solely to keep me company] obvious Wobegon Fanatics, laughing at the In Jokes and humming along to the tunes.

So this morning, duly distracted, I worked away, and the hob was cleaned, sheets were changed, and sundry other tasks completed. Steph telephoned from the SnoZone at Milton Keynes, where she was enjoying her first skiing lesson. For someone who takes after her mother, and does not enjoy speed or cold, I think she is quite brave.

I decided to have a bath in the newly painted bathroom. The bath, basin and loo are a pinkish colour - I believe the Edwardians called it 'Ashes of Roses' and the room is half tiled in a matching shade. On the current Crown paint chart, the suite's colour is somewhere between 'Cashmere Cuddle' and 'Gentle' [who picks these names?] When we moved in 12 years ago, the girls [teenagers!] were quite anti-pink, and so repainted the upper part of the walls in a deep blue, and Steph added very artistic fluffy white clouds. The previous owners having taken the fittings, we added blue IKEA towel rail and loo-roll holder - plus a white roman blind with blue trim. Just recently, I felt the room seemed a bit dark and dingy. So we went off to B&Q and got some of their own-brand 'pink blossom' paint.

On the last day of his sabbatical, Bob painted the bathroom. It looks SO much nicer- especially with the new pink shower curtain and bath mat, and attractive IKEA print. Except for one thing...Teenage girls are fond of taking long baths with many Lush Bath Products, and scented candles etc. Because of the dark blue walls, I don't think any of us realised just how dingy and sooty the ceiling was. It is an Artex finish [the sort they call "Cottage Cheese" in the USA] and having done all the walls with white undercoat and pink topcoat, Bob brushed a small amount of white paint in the middle of the ceiling. It is SUCH a contrast. We have not had time to complete the work, yet [the sabbatical being over, and all]

Lying in the bath just now I realise that my bathroom has moved from being a place of relaxation and cleansing to being a potential sermon illustration! I thought the ceiling was white and clean - but it takes the contrast of a splash of true, pure white to show up just how filthy it really is. The closer we get to Jesus, the more we realise the inadequacy of our own 'holiness'. Only He can cleanse us, and make us pure and whole again. It is not fashionable, nor popular these days to be 'good' - people instead have a fondness for the 'lovable rogue', and think it's ok to cheat the Taxman, or fib on the Insurance claim, because  'everybody does it'. But if we are Christians, it is NOT ok - we are called to be holy - and to seek God's grace and strength to live righteously. Forget the Cillit Bang, I am with Elisha Hoffman when it comes to getting properly clean!