I opened the cooler and looked down into the plastic bin inside and saw a bloody mess. Immediately my mind went into salvage mode. We were camping, living out of a cooler for nine days, and couldn’t take any chances, even if it did cost us a week’s worth of meals. As it turns out, the problem was easily solved.
Whenever we camp, because space is short for that much food and eating out is not an option, I take all the meat for our evening meals frozen. The meat itself acts as ice in the cooler, keeping the temperature well down in the safe zone, and we use it as it thaws, replacing it with real ice. I learned early on to re-package each item in a zipper freezer bag so that as it thaws the juices don’t drip out and contaminate the other food and the ice we use in our drinks. We also put the meat in plastic tubs, away from things like butter, eggs, and condiments—just in case. That’s what saved us this time.
Somehow the plastic bag in which I had placed the steaks had developed a leak, but all those bloody red juices were safely contained in the white tub, and the other meats were still sealed. I removed the bin from the cooler, put the steaks in a new bag, dumped the mess and cleaned the bin and the outside of the other meat bags, then returned the whole thing to the cooler, everything once again tidy and above all, safe.
We all do the same things in our kitchens. After handling raw meat, we wash our hands. We use separate cutting boards for meat and vegetables meant to be eaten fresh. And lately, they are even telling us not to wash poultry at all because it splashes bacteria all over the kitchen.
We follow all these safety rules, then think nothing of cross-contaminating our souls. What do you watch on TV? What do you look at on the internet? Where do you go for recreation? No, we cannot get out of the world, but we can certainly keep it from dumping its garbage on the same countertops we use to prepare our families’ spiritual meals. There is an “off” button.
Maybe the problem is that these things are not as repulsive to us as they should be. The Psalmist said, I have not sat with men of falsehood; Neither will I go in with dissemblers. I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocency: So will I compass your altar, O Jehovah; Psalms 26:4-6. Can we say our hands are clean when we assemble to worship God after spending a week being titillated by the sins of others?
If we followed some basic spiritual safety rules as carefully as we do those for our physical health, maybe we would lose fewer to cross-contamination of the soul.
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. Ephesians 5:11-12
Dene Ward
Whenever we camp, because space is short for that much food and eating out is not an option, I take all the meat for our evening meals frozen. The meat itself acts as ice in the cooler, keeping the temperature well down in the safe zone, and we use it as it thaws, replacing it with real ice. I learned early on to re-package each item in a zipper freezer bag so that as it thaws the juices don’t drip out and contaminate the other food and the ice we use in our drinks. We also put the meat in plastic tubs, away from things like butter, eggs, and condiments—just in case. That’s what saved us this time.
Somehow the plastic bag in which I had placed the steaks had developed a leak, but all those bloody red juices were safely contained in the white tub, and the other meats were still sealed. I removed the bin from the cooler, put the steaks in a new bag, dumped the mess and cleaned the bin and the outside of the other meat bags, then returned the whole thing to the cooler, everything once again tidy and above all, safe.
We all do the same things in our kitchens. After handling raw meat, we wash our hands. We use separate cutting boards for meat and vegetables meant to be eaten fresh. And lately, they are even telling us not to wash poultry at all because it splashes bacteria all over the kitchen.
We follow all these safety rules, then think nothing of cross-contaminating our souls. What do you watch on TV? What do you look at on the internet? Where do you go for recreation? No, we cannot get out of the world, but we can certainly keep it from dumping its garbage on the same countertops we use to prepare our families’ spiritual meals. There is an “off” button.
Maybe the problem is that these things are not as repulsive to us as they should be. The Psalmist said, I have not sat with men of falsehood; Neither will I go in with dissemblers. I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocency: So will I compass your altar, O Jehovah; Psalms 26:4-6. Can we say our hands are clean when we assemble to worship God after spending a week being titillated by the sins of others?
If we followed some basic spiritual safety rules as carefully as we do those for our physical health, maybe we would lose fewer to cross-contamination of the soul.
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. Ephesians 5:11-12
Dene Ward
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