Something Stinks January 14, 2007

A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Luke 9:35 (NIV)

As the keeper of my newly established “farm,” I spend a lot of time handling animal droppings. With eight animals, I have lots of opportunities to be a pooper-scooper. Each type of animal has a different odor to their refuse. There are the horses, whose oval shaped manure is sometimes called “road apples.” I have no idea where that name came from, but of all the animals I clean up after, to me, their dung smells the best. I actually like it and don’t think it stinks at all. Rabbit droppings don’t smell either, but rabbit urine is another story all together. You can smell Sunny Bunny’s messes as soon as you walk in the house, so I don’t leave them there for long. Keeping kitty litter in his cage helps absorb the stench and makes it more manageable, though. The birdcage is outside, so doesn’t have to be emptied as often as the rabbit cage. Even then, the odor is not too strong, and I can dump it straight into a trashcan with ease. I often have to pick up dog piles as well as Lucy still has not learned to scratch on the door or bark to go out. She knows that she is supposed to do her business outside, but if no one is around will deposit her offering at the sliding glass door. Close, but no cigar. Sometimes, she makes it outside, but refuses to leave the porch. We have little piles out there that have to be scooped up and flung out into the yard. No one else will clean it up, but me. Dog poop smells pretty bad to me, but not as bad as cat litter. To me, cat litter is the worst. When the kittens were in a cage on the porch, I almost gagged each time I had to change their litter box. It was a great day when they were old enough to be released in the barn. Now, they go out in the sand and cover it up. No more kitty presents to worry about. No matter how I feel about their droppings, despite the difference in the smells or the size, manure is manure is manure. Nothing changes what it is. The same can be said about falsehood. There is no such thing as a white lie. A lie is a lie is a lie. And lying, no matter whether the world defines it as true, is a sin. The world will tell us that the truth is within ourselves. That there is no absolute truth, and everyone defines truth for himself or herself. But, God’s Word tells us differently. How do we know what is truth and what is fiction? By listening to Jesus. If it holds to His teaching, then, it is true. If not, it is false and a lie. If you think something smells bad, ask God to confirm, but it is usually a sure bet that if it stinks, it’s not true.