
Last Sunday, the church school teacher engaged the children
in a children’s sermon about rules.
She
began by asking them if they had ever played “Hide and Seek”.
Most of them had.
Then she asked them about the rules for
playing “Hide and Seek.” Some said the “seeker” had to count to 100 while others said
counting to 50 was the rule.
Each child
had different ideas about the rule for establishing “out of bounds” and there
were varying opinions about what the seeker needed to do if they caught a
person before she reached “home free.”
The rules for “Hide and Seek” vary from place to place depending on the
traditions of a neighborhood or group of kids. Sometimes the rules are pretty simple.
At other times they may be more involved and
complex in the curious way that rules for games evolve.
The church school teacher moved the
discussion along by observing that it is confusing for us if the rules for
playing a game are not clear or if they keep changing.

She then segued into talking about Micah and
the text for the day: “He has told you, O
mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8 NRSV)
“Rules” - - principles to live by that do
not change depending on the neighborhood tradition or the group of “kids” with
whom I am playing.
While how I live them
out may involve a complexity of thought and action, the principles themselves
are straight forward - - fairness -kindness - humility in daily living and interactions.
I continue to return
to Christina Feldman’s book The Buddhist Path To Simplicity: Spiritual
Practice For Everyday Life and I’m
currently re-reading her chapter on Integrity. She writes: The exploration of integrity is
the exploration of integrity and freedom.
It is integrity of heart that directly contributes to releasing us from
the distress of guilt, regret, shame, and fear...Adherence to rules alone can
disguise unethical sentiments of moral superiority, self righteousness, or
fear. A truly ethical life is born of wisdom and contributes to wisdom, it
is born of compassion and embodies compassion....our
(spiritual) teachers have been met in the countless experiences of our lives
that teach us the ways of generating complexity and confusion, and the ways of
cultivating simplicity and peace.
As
I listen to and read about the intense energy surrounding the seating of the
next judge to the Supreme Court, I can’t
help reflecting on the way the complexity of the drama reflects the elements of
guilt, shame, fear, regret - - and how the firm and unyielding embrace of a
complex order of rules for the process serves to “disguise unethical sentiments
of moral superiority, self righteousness or fear” rather than adding to the sum
of wisdom and compassion required for a just and sane outcome.
Richard Rohr, of the Center For Action and
Contemplation,writes in his daily meditation for today: Human history is in a time of
great flux, of great cultural and spiritual change. The psyche doesn’t know
what to do with so much information.....In light of today’s information
overload, people are looking for a few clear certitudes by which to define
themselves.
Kids need clear and unambiguous rules in order to
enjoy a satisfying game of hide and seek. In our search for the truth in the midst of the lack
of certitudes, in our desire for unambiguous guidelines for how to proceed in
our discernment we might do well to sit
with Micah a bit and perhaps feel in our bones what “the Lord requires” - - to
do justice and act with fairness, to love kindness and act with mercy and
compassion, to walk humbly with the Source of Being, and get our immense egos
out of the way so that we can more clearly hear what is good and what is
required.
The path Micah offers is one of relative
simplicity. We each hear “do justice,
love kindness, walk humbly.....” with different ears and with different ways of
responding, but the challenge offers a way to engender simplicity and peace
rather than complexity and confusion in the midst of deeply trying times.
Vicky Hanjian
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