Of Seeping Weeds and Better Grass

This is kind of part two of the Grass Chronicles. Last time (Of Lawns and Aphorisms) I discussed how living in one extreme can often lead to another extreme, and how comparisons against other people is not how to rise above in life. I also talked a little bit about the difficulty of keeping a clean lawn in the midst of hayfields. Let's go into that a little more. . .

So, as I was thinking and walking and looking at grass, I thought about my own lawn. At the beginning of the summer, I sprayed most of the weeds and they died off. But evidently I missed some, because now the front yard is covered with annoying and ugly weeds and things. My point is that weeds spread. This blog may be a little shorter than most, because that's just about it. Weeds, when left unattended, spread and overtake your yard, and even the yards next to you. Thus, although it may look good on you for the time being to chill near the "hayfield" lives, and you may get plenty of good-natured attention, you sure as anything had better make sure those hayfields surrounding you don't seep weeds into your life. Standing out among the less-disciplined provides recognition for a while, until the weeds that have taken over their yards start taking over yours.

Now, on to people. There are people who are organized, ambitious, and disciplined; and there are those who are not. If you are striving to be successful, it would probably help if you weren't always having to spray out the weeds of sin and other bad habits that were seeping in from non-ambitious lives around you. However, we are called to lead those weedy lives higher, call them to a place of better grass so to speak. There is a fine line dividing too much and too little time spent with each type of group. We must learn to balance that tightrope, investing in others, but not neglecting to be invested in ourselves.

It is similar with ministry. It is indeed our calling to lead people to Christ, to help them grow deeper. For some that means getting up on a platform and preaching or leading Christ's followers in worship. But we must not neglect ourselves, or else we will not be able to minister to our full capacity. My dad gave me an example of this when I suggested simply forgoing college and going straight to the mission field. He said, "A doctor can reach down to a homeless person on the street, but a homeless person can't reach up to a doctor." Same with grass. A clean cut lawn can hold position and influence with other clean cut lawns, while also influencing lawns which are not kept up. An unkept lawn, however, can only have slight influence on other lawns, without any regard at all to the well kept lawns. Same with lives. God has called us higher so we can call others higher.

Here is what I'm trying to communicate:
1) Reach up to God and respectable people, who will take you higher
2) Reach out to others on your level, to have a mutual relationship in which you help each other climb higher
3) Reach down to underpriveliged, underinformed, or undermotivated people, and give them a hand up

Reach up, reach out, reach down.

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.