If we think back to the days of our youth, I’m willing to bet most if not all of us can remember mother often saying, “Wash your hands”. Wash your hands before lunch, wash your hands before supper, wash your hands after playing outside, wash your hands after rummaging around in the basement. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. In our house, it was almost a mantra heard several times a day. And…more often than not, I would roll my eyes (because after all it was only dirt) and then dutifully go wash my hands sometimes even using soap. In later years I had many times said the same thing to my daughter and now to my grandson: “Wash your hands”. It’s not just one of those “mom rules”, though I do think moms say it the most; it’s a “rule” that simply makes a whole lot of sense and does prevent the spread of germs.
We live by a whole lot of rules and laws. Many of them make sense to us and help to keep us safe – like look both ways before crossing the street. Others we may have a bit of difficulty with. For example, who’s in charge of letting family members know when mom or dad has a health crisis? Is it the eldest son or daughter? Is it appropriate for one of the in-laws, who has first-hand knowledge of the situation, to alert the rest of the family? Well, I guess it pretty much depends on the “rules” or “traditions” of the family.
When it comes to church, a frequent comment in our house has been: “It was so much easier back when I was a kid and you knew what the rules were” (as opposed to really thinking and praying about what is the morally right and just way to be and live). In a perfect world everyone would just follow all the rules to the letter and we would all would live happily ever after. But…whose rules?
I think one of the main points Jesus was trying to get across when he responded to the Pharisee’s complaint that Jesus’ disciples did not observe the tradition of the elders by washing their hands before their meals (Mark 7:1-8) was to get the Pharisees and us really thinking about whose laws we should be following. Like the Pharisees of the gospel, at times we may outwardly appear to be following all the rules (many of which have been humanly constructed) and yet on the inside feel quite self-righteous about doing so, perhaps going so far as to think or even point out to others how much better we are because we follow the “rules”. But is looking good in fact what truly matters? Doesn’t it all really come down to the intention of our heart – what propels us to follow the rules? Is the reason we strive to observe the traditions and doctrines, “the rules”, merely a sense of obligation or a way to show off to others? Or…do we do so out of love and respect for our Creator and one another. Hmm…and isn’t it written that the greatest commandments, the most important rules to follow are to love our Creator with our whole mind, heart and soul and to love one another as ourselves? I’m going to think about that the next time I wash my hands.
Peace on the Journey
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2 comments:
I think I have become someone who believes more in breaking human rules than following them away from God! At the youth trip a coupla years ago I endorsed, modeled - yes - fashion show modeled - and persuaded the kids to buy t-shirts that read simply "nonconformist" on the front. I have a hard time with rules, especially destructive church rules!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Like I have written: some rules do make sense and others (in all areas of life) some of us do have difficulty with. You point out something for all of us to consider - is doing or not doing this or that leading us toward or away from the Sacred?
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