Of Lawns and Aphorisms

I pass many houses during my daily walks. Walks to school, work, the mall, friend's houses. . . One major thing I notice on my walks is the quality of grass in people's yards. For example, on my way to work I pass through a variety of "neighborhoods." One clump may be fairly high class (I'm talking about lawn care here, not judging people), and then the next street you pass starts a completely different "lawn sector" (as I will refer to these clumps from here on out). Anyways, as I came to a usually unkept lawn sector on my way to work the other day, just kinda lookin' around, I was surprised to see a very distinctive line separating two people's lawns. I looked all around me and sure enough, this was the "hayfield" area, but there was one lawn that was cut cleanly, trimmed well, and just was looking good overall. It made me smile. I wanted to go up to the house and give the owners a big bear hug.

Why didn't I feel this way about the countless clean-cut lawns that I had passed only minutes before? Wu ji bi fan. This is a Chinese aphorism which means "movement to one extreme is bound to cause a reversal to the other." In simple English terms: extreme happiness brings sorrow; extreme sorrow brings happiness. When I was in the middle of the well kept lawn sector, the seemingly endless short-cut lawns were dull and boring. But in the middle of the hayfield sector, that one beautiful lawn stood out incredibly.

I have two points I want to make with this. The first is that many of us are surrounded by "hayfield" type of people. Most of the people in the upcoming generation (mine) don't really have that much discipline, and even get in arguments about who's lazier. In that kind of an environment, it is very hard to rise above the rest and get out that lawn mower, fire up that weedeater, and get that lawn cleaned up. It takes discipline to keep a lawn clean, especially when it doesn't really stand out as the worst. You may not stand out as the worst, but believe me, you will stand out when your lawn is the only well-trimmed one among the rest.

My second point is that the typical American (or Canadian) has a great life compared to most people in the world. Its like we in America are the well trimmed lawn sector of the world, along with a few other countries. As soon as one mishap takes place, we freak out and complain. As soon as the grass grows slightly longer than our neighbor's, it becomes an emergency. This is the problem. We were not created to compare ourselves against someone else. Ever pulled the "yeah well he. . ." thing with your parents? How did they respond? "We're not talking about Billy, we're talking about you." Live life to the best of your ability, focus on God, and He will lead the way.

I'm considering starting "The Grass Chronicles". . . or something to that effect. Anyways, more about grass on the way.