Filed under: clogs dirt sin forgiveness cleanliness simple stick
I had an instant party last night for 19 people. My friends were very considerate enough to wash all the piles of plates and plastic containers and pots and pans. With no sieve in the sink (and my friends not using the strainer, I guess… no offense meant here), our clogging problem went from worse to worst. Rice pellets, bits of spaghetti noodles, sediments from lentil stew, coffee grounds and a disarray of colorful (or yucky) ingredients lay floating on the bathroom floor. Because we have the same pipe for the sink and the bathroom, the excess from the sink goes straight to the bathroom! The sight and smell of it all could make me gag. I could not tolerate this problem so I tried different ways to rid of the unwanted dregs.
First, I used the toilet pump. I guess my pumping energy was not good enough. It didn’t help at all.
Second, I tried this wooden stick. Huh, it only rearranged the position of the residue. It could not get through the P-trap. 
Third, boiling water. “This one should work,” I thought. Boiling water is known to lessen grease that perpetrate clogging. Well, I must admit, it helped to some degree. But it didn’t solve our clogging problem.
Fourth, (drum roll…) Dr@^*! The expensive liquid clog remover. “Powerful! Best at dissolving stubborn clogs. Guaranteed”, says the label. I used to use it and it should do the same wonder – magically melt all that blocks the drainage. But, checking it out the day after, Dr@^* was a disappointment this time. I removed all the residue on the floor using paper towel. I think I used up a whole roll since last night.
Uhhh, what to do? I could not maintain the cleanliness of our bathroom because clogs reappear. Stagnant water invites bacteria, I know. Now, we could not use water to our leisure while taking a shower or cleaning the dishes because the water does not subside quickly. (Sigh!) Honestly, this was now becoming a cause of stress for me. Hubby was likewise concerned.
So, today, the last day of 2008, I knocked on our landlord’s door. I told Pu, the son of our landlord, about our problem and he came to the rescue. The first time he came, he looked at our bathroom floor and saw all the dirt and flooding. Then he came back with a stick (hmmm… another wooden stick??) which he used as a pump inserting it onto the pipe. I could hear some squeaking in the pipe as solids were pushed down the drain. Pu flushed a pail of water onto it. And…. wonder of all wonders, it didn’t even take a minute before the job was done!!! The stick with cloth at the bottom of it – simple, homemade, unattractive, didn’t cost a cent – turned out to be the best ever clog buster! User-friendly, organic, not hazardous to environment and human health. This ordinary stick was winner over expensive, “high-tech” Dr@^*. This reminded me of tiny David who struck down giant Goliath with a sling and a small stone; and the passage in the Bible that says, “But God chose the foolish things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, …” (I Corinthians 1:27-28)
Likewise, I parallel this experience with sin. Clogs are like sins in our lives. They are ugly, dirty, evil. They prevent water from flowing freely. We can deal with sin in many ways. We can brush it aside, “clean up the bathroom floor” or the facade of ourself, masking it with smiles. Or, we can even admit it. But not till the clog is flushed down, we have this perennial problem of bacteria infestation. If we don’t deal with the internal part of it, we can never experience holiness in our lives, probably blocking God’s blessings on us. We need to confess our sins to the Lord so He can forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)
Well, I had another party on New Year’s Eve. Smaller this time. But I was happy we didn’t have any clogging problem again. Thanks to Pu and his tailor-made wooden stick that turned out to be my best clog buster!
