It is a beautiful day, perfect to get outside and load some firewood and bring it up to the house in preparation for the pending Winter Storm. It will be a little tricky because before I left the hospital Sunday night without my appendix, the nurse told me, she even wrote it down, that I should not lift more than ten pounds for two weeks. My immediate thoughts were to question her as to how it would be possible to lift this body out of bed each morning. or whether that ten pounds was cumulative or started over with each lift, or a couple of questionable, yet hilarious quips which I will continue to keep to myself. (I was still a little drugged so give me a break) But she had the power to release me from my confinement so I kept the sharp sarcasm inside. It hurt. No, literally. It hurt.
There are probably ways around the ten pound limit. Did she mean ten pounds per arm? Did she account for the mechanical advantage created by a fulcrum point? Is it ten pounds if the wood were green, because it's dried out now? We'll see.
I'm thinking of taking my bathroom scales out into the field with me, and roll each log onto it before I lift. If it's 10.00 pounds or less I'll lift away.
Because clearly, it would never hurt me to lift 10.00 pounds or less. And clearly, if I lift a nanogram over 10 pounds (yeah, I know I mixed my mass units, but I don't know the word in the English system) my abdomen will explode through my navel.
And if I could wait until that fifteenth day I could lift and throw the biggest log I could find. But if I try to lift a smidgen over 10 on the 14th day it will be entrails everywhere.
Because that's what the nurse said. She even wrote it down.
Actually what she wrote down was:
Lifting Restriction: >10 lbs for 2 wks.
It's pretty clear the real truth she was trying to say.
"You just had surgery. Don't be stupid. Don't lift much of anything for a few days."
It was as if she knew me. It was a truth.
Writings that are meant to help, to explain, to instruct, are perverted by our selfish, short-sighted, self-centered perspectives. I want to go load up all the firewood today despite what the nurse's order says. I want to dissect and pick her words and orders apart, instead of accepting what I know the clear message in context to be. I want to find loopholes, exceptions, acontextual interpretations that will let me do what I want. I want to use her words as my tools, my weapons, my way to get what I want.
As if the writings were the truth here, rather than just an attempt to describe and direct us to an unknowable, indescribable truth.
The Biblical gospels, which are the accounts of Jesus' life and teachings, death and resurrection are the most obvious targets of our need to make exception. You may have noticed this lately.
Love and serve everyone, no exceptions, especially your enemies. Include everyone in your love and service, no exceptions. Judge no one. Forgive everyone. Feed the hungry, heal the sick, visit the lonely and imprisoned, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, stand with the oppressed, be kind to the foreigner. Take care of the poor, the widow, the orphan. Do not store up treasure. Sell what you have and give to the poor. Your love is how they will know you.
It is pretty straightforward. And yet, we continuously try to make exceptions. Several have been in the news lately. "It is obviously necessary to judge in order to make good decisions for our country, our families, our children." "The evil our enemy has done calls for an equal response, a head for a head." "They don't appreciate anything and waste what we give them." "Why should we welcome someone whose very presence here is a violation of our laws." "Welfare just encourages laziness." "The Lord helps those who help themselves."
I was guilty just this morning. It was on purpose to make a point, and I have asked for forgiveness. In pointing out how the Bible is being used to defend all kinds of non-Jesusy behaviour lately, I found support for a friend's direction for someone to kiss her ass. Matthew 5:39. We are told to offer, or turn the other cheek.
It is a horrible and sad thing this perversion of the Gospel of Jesus.
Or the U. S. Constitution (14th Amendment):
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Equal protection? State governments must treat every person equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Therefore, if the State makes laws regarding marriage, it cannot make distinctions based on those designations. Crystal clear.
But wait, we say. Surely the government can say that marriage can only be between a man and a woman? Or surely the government can make a law to keep another Mosque from being built close to Ground Zero in NYC? Or surely a Chief Justice can keep a monument to the ten commandments in the rotunda of a State Supreme Court? Or surely a governor can keep black folks out of our schools? Or surely judges can presume that women are naturally superior to men to have custody of children? Or surely a state can pay women employees less than men, or discriminate against women in hiring if it chooses?
The U. S. Constitution is clear. Neither the state nor the federal governments can. It's not hard to understand. We all, and each of us, have equal rights under the law. We should all be celebrating that to the rooftops.
We do it all the time. I'm a lawyer. I'll admit it. It's a lot of what I do. We attempt to find a way around the clear language of a contract, a statute, or a judge's order. Alabama Probate Judge's did it all week, with absolutely no legal leg upon which to stand, as they pretended to be confused about an abundantly clear Federal Judge's Order.
We all do it. We do it to get what we want. Even if what we want has nothing to do with Truth.
And all when we really know, in our hearts, the Truth.
Love. Include. Serve. Forgive. Do not judge.
All are equal under the law.
What men or women have written down, others will pervert. And so writings, however great, will never save us.
But the Truth that inspires them will.
And all that may have been just a little too heavy a lift for me today. But at least the firewood will seem light by comparison . . . oh yeah, I think I'm on to something there.
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