Lessons from a dishwasher.

Nothing lasts forever, especially modern technology. Have you noticed though, how often technology fails when there are other, more serious issues to deal with? Financial stress, health concerns and everything in between, all tend to get that little bit more difficult when some or other stupid device breaks down. Perhaps you know the feeling?

A few months ago I was blissfully unaware of what a drainage pump was, or that it was different to a circulation pump. Now I know, and it seems like an age has passed since we first realised that our once faithful protector-of-household-peace-appliance had washed it’s last dirty dish.

I love to fix things by myself and this has been a learning adventure, filled with hours of do-it-yourself videos, visits to purveyors of appliance parts, fitting and testing of replacement parts, and of course, hand-washing dirty dishes. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way.

I hate washing dishes. The presence of Torx screws (impervious to flat or Philips screwdrivers) are an indication that you probably should let a professional attend to the faulty appliance. Devices that work with water are one thing. Devices that work with electricity are another. Devices that work with water and electricity are protected by Torx screws for a good reason.

There’s more. Replacing the drainage pump without completely disassembling the dishwasher requires freakishly long, dexterous fingers that are cut-proof. The drainage pump isn’t always the problem. Replacing the circulation pump requires complete disassembly of the dishwasher. Reassembling a completely disassembled dishwasher without introducing leaking water to live electricity is harder than it looks in online videos. The sum of the cost of spare parts is ten times greater the cost of a brand new appliance. Life is not fair. Get help.

The hardest lesson I’ve learned though, is more profound. What if there are some things we can’t do, even if we have all the knowledge on the Internet and all the self-belief and perseverance in the world? Facing the fact that we have limitations is sobering and rather disturbing. We can fight against the ageing process, for example, but has anyone ever beaten it? We like to be in control, and we struggle to learn that we’re not.

There are many ideas on how to cleanse a guilty conscience, to earn God’s forgiveness, but what if we can’t actually fix it by ourselves? No matter what we learn, or how hard we try, what if we have to trust God to do it? God’s grace in Jesus Christ dying for us, earning what we could never earn, is wonderful beyond words, but perhaps more difficult to accept than our ego would admit. To have limits is human, to be forgiven is divine. Get help. It’s free.