Every year, my pollen journey begins with a ball game.
Pollen is not my friend—and I knew it wouldn’t be this particular year. We had received record rainfall over the winter. Although I’m not a meteorologist, I knew when the temperatures warmed, the plants would suck up that moisture and burst into bloom like nobody’s business. Sure enough, they did. A rinsed-off vehicle could turn greenish-yellow in a matter of hours.
As winter ended, the annual announcement came over the loudspeaker where I teach: “Teachers, I’ve put the spring sporting schedule in the workroom. We need all of you to sign up at least once to take up ticket money.” As usual, I chose baseball, which required sitting at a table in the open and taking money from attendees for an hour and a half. I had done it the previous year—and got sick.
As I sat, I watched my clothes, phone, money bag, and anything else exposed turned yellow. I wiped and watched the dust reappear momentarily. To top things off, I needed to cut my grass and the grass of the two neighbors whose grass I also cut. A baseball game and three yards was all it took to give me the crud.
Post nasal drip, runny nose, stopped up nose, scratchy throat, cough, watery eyes. I recognized the signs, but it didn’t help that the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Some of my symptoms mimicked the virus’s symptoms, making me feel uneasy. But since I had no fever or chest pains, I figured pollen was the culprit. I stayed in as much as possible, took allergy medicine, and waited for a good rain—which finally came about a week after our outburst of pollen. I watched and smiled as heaven’s water rinsed the pollen from the air and off every surface where it had collected.
I remember my grandfather’s experience with pollen. I don’t know that it bothered his allergies, but he couldn’t stand for it to cover his car. He was a once-a-week car washer. Every morning before he went to work or began his day, he walked out his back door, unrolled the water hose from the rack attached to his old home, hooked it to the faucet, turned on the water, and rinsed the pollen from his car. “If you spray it every morning, the pollen will scoot right off,” he said. Then, on Saturday, he thoroughly cleaned it.
Sometimes, when I visited on Saturday, he said, “Drive your truck around back.” When I got there, he’d have the car-washing stuff ready. He loved to show me his new long-handle brush. Now, he wouldn’t need to bend so much to wash the bottom of the car or get on a step stool to clean the roof. And he would always have some new car-washing detergent with wax that made the vehicle shine. He smiled as he washed the dirt and pollen away.
But some things are more challenging to wash away than pollen. The psalmist pegged one: sin. His mother hadn’t sinned by conceiving him, but he was brought into the world a sinner. Theologians debate how or when the sinful nature gets into us, but no one doubts its presence. And we don’t have to be too old before it begins manifesting itself. Take a loved toy from a young child and watch what happens.
With pollen, allergy medicine, time, and rest will usually take care of my reactions. Not so with my bad attitudes, sinful nature, or temptations. If scientists could bottle a drug to remove the big three, I’d be set for life. They haven’t. . . and won’t.
But God did what scientists and we can’t do. He let his Son pay for our sins on Calvary’s cross. He gives us a new nature when we confess our sins and invite Christ into our lives. He provides his Spirit to give us power against temptations, and he gives us abundant life—which can drive away the cruddy attitudes.
Although God provides for us, washing away all the bad stuff that continually falls our way isn’t easy. As spiritual as he was, Paul said he kept doing what he didn’t want to do. I feel the same way most of the time. I decide—and pray—to have a good attitude, but then something happens that sours it. I choose not to succumb to a particular temptation but get covered with it anyway.
The good thing is that God keeps “scooting” us off with the power of the new nature he’s implanted in us like a good rain washes the pollen away. We’re not all we can be—or all we’ll one day be—but we are much more than we were. We are not covered with the pollen of sin anymore. We are now covered with the righteousness of Christ.
When you need a little washing, God is always happy to oblige.
Father, I depend on you to wash me of those things that keep me from being all I can for you.
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