38. The Connotations of
Cleanliness
Among the interesting things of
life are the meanings we allow words to take unto themselves. There are many
words whose sounds are sweet be- cause of what they coonote-words such as
warmth and love, home and friends, peace and quiet, comfort and kindness -- and
so many more that have come to like to consider for a moment: The word
clean-cleanliness. All through the Old Testament, men are reminded of
cleanliness thou clean." Among the ancient philosophers Epicetus observed
that "cleanliness divides (men) from the lower animals" --- and then
added: "Will you not cleanse yourself? Will you not come clean among us
that you may give pleasure to your companions?" Think for a moment of some
of the connotations of uncleanliness: dirt and darkness, smut and filth, unwashed,
impure, contaminated, soiled, and sullied. And then by contrast think of some
of the blessed connotations of cleanliness: clean clothes, clean sheets, clean
food, clean hands, clean speech, clean minds, clean motives; clean men. The
honest sweat of toil, the honest dirt that comes with work, and the fresh
smears and smudges on a boy's face, have a sort of accepted virtue. But stale
dirt, and dirt of mind and dirt of morals are abhorrent in their contrast to
cleanliness, and especially abhorrent to the inside kind of cleanliness, of
which Epictetus further said: "The (first) and fundamental purity is of
the soul" Some, no doubt, will be cynical on this subject. (Some will say
or subtly suggest that the laws and commandments concerning chastity and
personal purity are old-fashioned, and can safely be set aside. But if they do
so say, they deceive themselves, for there is this sure certainty: that sin,
old-fashioned as it is to speak of it, is still followed by the costs and
consequences.) The law of cause and effect has not been repealed-even if some
would say so. How blessed is the blessedness of cleanliness -- of washing
clean, of being clean, of thinking clean, of living clean -- with cleanliness
of person and cleanliness of soul: with the chaste and moral cleanliness of a
young man or woman coming to marriage. This kind of a cleanliness is at the
very core of man's peace and effectiveness in life and quietness of conscience-
the cleanliness of a man inside himself. In the words of Job, "He that
hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." (Richard L. Evans,
Presented over KSL & the Columbia Broadcasting system, June 12, 1955, repr.
An Endowment for the Faithful: A Compilation of Statements Relative to the
Holy Endowment, ed. Wilson K. Andersen [Provo, Utah: Wilson K. Andersen,
1962], 21-22)
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