“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Thoreau
That’s our lawn. Mowed it then took the picture as I left for work. Nothing like standing around, (hands on hips), looking at a freshly mowed yard, smelling the water seep into the earth and thinking: “I did that!”
We’re a simple lot.
Uniformity… we thrive on it…
Odd, considering that sticking out from the crowd, that which makes us not so very uniform is the heart of both The Passover and Easter. The Biblical account of The Passover has the redemptive moment where God rescues His own… but not until the Egyptians are good and ready to be rid of them. The Easter Story of Christ rightly celebrates His resurrection and His invitation to eternal life… but not until His own followers turned away from Him, betrayed Him and the community at large brutally crucified Him – ready to be done with The One who stuck out so uniquely.
Folks stood up – got knocked down – and redemption was discovered in getting back up… even if that meant sticking out. It’s why, how, we remember those who stood, spoke – against all odds – not for themselves but for The Promise of redemption.
Uniformity… there’s no real reason we have a lawn – much less TWO lawns. We rarely use them. They cost us money. They’re hard on the environment. They’re insanely non-productive and yet we keep and tend them. They’re our small part in one of our nation’s most expensive, homegrown efforts (almost said grassroots) to throw money into the wind. 32 million acres of America irrigated for lawns, “…the largest irrigated crop in the country” nearly every blade of it thrown onto the waste heap.
Who does that? Why? We don’t even give it a thought. Our neighbors have lawns. The surrounding communities have lawns. City’s employ “code enforcement” workers – who – as part of their job, make sure everyone’s keeping things in order with their lawns. Why not? They feel great on bare feet. They’re a hedge against the reality of our urban lifestyles. They display our wealth. They’re green… millions of little blades chopped down to look like one… uniformity. Admit it… they make you smile.
Questions will be asked as families gather for Passover, among them will be: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Stories will be told. Lifestyles examined. Faith and The Faithfulness of God to redeem us will again be considered anew. Great reasons to find new faith will be considered and then the evening, the week will come to an end and hopefully we’ll take some of the discussion with us and find purpose.
Questions will be asked as families prepare for Good Friday communion services, among them will be: “Why do we call it a good day if Jesus was killed?” Parents will struggle to help children understand. Stories will be told. Hearts, faith, understanding examined. Believers will gather in services of community and fellowship around the world and prepare for The Promised resurrection on their knees as we struggle to somehow come to terms with the cost of our uniformity.
Sticking out… it’s always a risk… but our unwillingness to veer off the well trodden path and onto “the road less traveled” is far more expensive. Even as people who profess to “live by faith and not by sight.”
Our questions need to be openly discussed if we have any desire to experience the loving, creative, caring community we have the opportunity to become: “Why is this night different?” “What makes this Friday ‘Good’?” And together we need to talk it out and when called to: stick out… even if it costs us everything. It’s been said that “if you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” Honesty, strength, teamwork, balance and the willingness to take a chance are all out there on the edge.
Uniformity? It’s easy to find. The path is well worn. It blends in. Like a nicely mown lawn.
Thoreau famously wrote “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
Uniformity… civil society demands that we continue to grease the wheels of the way things are today by doing the same thing we did yesterday in hopes that we might do the same thing again tomorrow… But when the end result is little more than a culture working to tend and care for millions of acres of wasted lawns, feeding or providing for no one, maybe it’s time to ask ourselves honestly the simple question children at The Passover table ask: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” To ask ourselves: “If they killed Him – why do we call it good?”
Maybe we should stay at the table and talk about it until we find the courage of a people who in fear and awe splattered the blood of a lamb above their doors- and prayed for deliverance –if not for themselves, for their children. We should stick together until we find the strength of men and women, who having lost everything at the cross, in fear and hope ran to an empty tomb and discovered The Song of Salvation in The Risen Lord. Maybe it’s time to “stick out” again.
Uniformity… great for machines, militias and simple math… You and me? We were made for The Adventure of Creation – to Stick Out, in the very best of ways – to advance the cause of life and love. We belong together…not like a lawn- but like a vineyard –connected, yet each of us uniquely bringing our own gifts and talents to the table in love…and lifting each other up.
Talking about our rescue, God said: “You must remember this day forever. Each year you will celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord.” (Exodus 12:14) He was saying that not only are we different- but we were to celebrate the day- The One -Who makes us different. On a cross, between two thieves, Jesus, The Lamb of God, promised the thief who asked… the one simply said: “Remember me…” “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42,43) It’s the promise that each of us who’ve settled to let our minutes… that all too quickly became our lives, steal away like well tended blades of grass in societies lawn, can cling too. He’s our Passover Lamb, willing to stick out on a cross- no concern for the comfort of uniformity –in love for you and for me.
Passover and Easter: The Lamb, an exodus and the cross- the freedom of an open door -they stick out. Our celebrations: around the table, in conversation, on our knees… in worship- build us up when the social restraints of uniformity are broken… if only for The Holy Days. Scripture tells that all creation waits in eager anticipation – not for our uniformity – but of this moment as we step away from all that has occupied us and step into that which we were made for from the beginning. I want to be ready!