The Dig (On Cleanliness and Godliness)

Today was the last day of the dig.

I’m staying at The School in The City until I leave for Hometown. And The School, bless its heart, has a washing machine in each residence building. So, today is also the first day that I’ve had access to a washing machine since leaving Hometown five weeks ago.

Over the past month, I’ve separated my clothes into two categories: clothes that I would wear to the site and clothes that I wouldn’t wear to the site.

I didn’t bother washing the clothes in the first category because wearing clean clothes into the field is simply an exercise in frustration: no matter how carefully one worked, one’s clean clothes would be covered in dust and dirt within a half hour of arriving at the site.

And I didn’t bother washing the clothes in the second category because I never wore them long enough to get them dirty. (In my opinion, a shirt cannot be dirty after having been worn for only three or four hours.)

It was quite a thrill to finally have access to a washing machine. But it was quite a shock to see the water turn brown as my “digging” clothes were washed. (It’s a front-loading machine and I find it amusing to watch my clothes get washed.)

If cleanliness really is next to godliness, then you might say that today is my day of sanctification.