Inside and Out

     So I have been reading some books that get me thinking about character lately. One was the non-fiction Almost Amish and the other was the fictional novel The Help. A man on a flight from Charlotte to Cincinnati saw me reading the former and asked if I was writing a paper for school. I laughed and said I'm so done with school, I just like to read. Since the man was in his late 60's he was glad to hear this. I never got to reading on that flight because we spent the whole time chatting. It was very pleasant. He also laughed at my joke, "How does God refer to Himself? Me, Myself, and I AM."

     Anyway, Almost Amish is about a woman's desire to simplify her life, similar to the way the Amish live. There are actually 4 kinds of Amish; my favorite is the Beachy Amish because the name sounds like they are the sort to take a metal detector to the beach in the evening (the founder of that sect had the last name Beachy). So some can own a car, some have a little bit of electricity provided by a noisy generator, etc. They make the use of technology as annoying as possible so they don't want to use it. Obviously this is the opposite of most Americans. But simplification goes further than that: the author and her family left a sprawling house in Maine to move to a tiny town in Kentucky called Wilmore. I totally lived in Wilmore for 4 years!! But I didn't know about the author then (I think her name is Karen Sleeth. Her husband, Matthew, has written some books too. My library doesn't have them, maybe yours does). They cultivated a garden instead of a chemical-filled yard, moved into a much smaller house, and reduced, reused, and recycled. They thought about what they really needed versus what they could borrow. They didn't give in to impulse purchases. They even got on lists to reduce the junk mail they receive by like 90%. The author rides a bike most places (SPOILER ALERT: one time it was stolen because she hadn't thought to get a bike lock).

     In The Help, women in Mississippi in 1963 share stories about racism and the invisible lines we all draw between ourselves and others based on generalizations. The book is SO much better than the movie. Except for Shakespeare, that's almost always the case. Shakespeare I would rather see performed because reading it cures my insomnia. The black women are treated as inferior and sub-human by the white women they work for, while one of the white women is considered white trash, but no one tells her what is expected of her in Jackson, Mississippi society.

     So I thought about all the superficial junk we think about. Stuff we think we need, but it turns into an idol. We think we need the latest and greatest. We expect to get new stuff all the time. We don't know our neighbors next door because we're busy with our job, our hobbies, our vacations. One day I had just put cookies in the oven when my son and I went out to get the mail. The neighbor to the right was out doing yardwork, so I said hello. We ended up talking for probably 15 minutes. I went back inside and it immediately hit me: I burnt the cookies! Another time I was getting the mail and I saw the neighbor on our left out getting her mail. She didn't see me, so I called out hello. Later I was doing yardwork and she invited my son and me to swim with them in their pool. I thought that was awesome! It was hilarious to me that I'd burnt the cookies talking to the neighbor, I'd rather have the conversation than the calories.

     I think about all the stupid things I've purchased, especially when I was younger. I think about all the times I drove myself and my mom crazy griping that I had 'nothing to wear'. I remember my bad skin and frizzy hair made me very self-conscious. I was so shallow! I was worried about what I looked like and fretting because I wasn't a Claudia Schiffer look-alike. I should have been thinking about what type of person I wanted to BE. What I wanted to be known for beyond cute clothes for example. What causes did I value, what traits do I admire, how can I work on developing those traits in myself. I suspect many of us have realized this as we age.

    Now, I wasn't totally shallow. I did Girl Scouts and 4-H and got involved at my church. I read a lot (no romance novels) and I did well in school. Junior year of high school, I stepped between my boyfriend at the time and a freshman I didn't know because boyfriend wanted to beat up freshman for some stupid reason. I told boyfriend it was stupid and I wasn't going to let it happen. But what about the times kids were being made fun of and I said nothing? I was made fun of too, all through high school. I would've loved for someone to say "so she has frizzy hair, so what? get a life" in my defense when boys threw balls of paper so they'd stick in my hair.

    So what? I wanted an advocate. Now I know better how to be one for others. I wanted encouragement and confidence and someone to lean on. Other people want those things too and I can help them out that way. I want a break from the daily grind sometimes and the chance to give someone else a break. I don't want to be boring, but I usually try to play it safe. Life is a journey, and journeys are supposed to be exciting!    I can't be the person I want to be and develop the traits I admire in others without stepping out and stepping up to the plate. I've wasted so much energy and time in my life worrying. "I wish I had worried more" said no one ever.

Come, Holy Spirit, come!!