Loosen up a little!

 

I’m old enough to remember many years ago, when Catholics were called to observe meatless Friday every week.  Schools, public and Catholic, would serve grilled cheese sandwiches.  The main dinner course at our home was often fish sticks, or tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches (again!).  Even restaurants featured meatless Friday specials.  McDonald’s came up with the Filet-o-Fish sandwich to lure those who were not eating hamburgers on Fridays.  We abstained from meat as a kind of penance and sacrifice to remind us of the passion and suffering of Lord on the cross on Good Friday.  But sadly, over time, many forgot the purpose and meaning of meatless Friday.  No meat? No problem.  How about a feast of salmon steak or grilled trout?  Meatless Friday became for many an empty ritual.  And so, in the late 1960s, Pope Paul VI allowed bishops to end that discipline.  Catholics were now to choose their own meaningful abstention or sacrifice.   

Something similar happened with the Jewish ritual of handwashing and purification of vessels.  It originated to express a deeply felt reverence and love for God.  But by Jesus’ time, the meaning was forgotten.  The Pharisees continued imposing and expanding the rule, even though it had degenerated into an empty and often oppressive ritual.

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus wasn’t denigrating the value of hand washing or of ritual cleansing to which the Pharisees referred (Mark 7:1-13).  However, He was confronting and challenging the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who asked a question but were really making an accusation.  “Why don’t your disciples wash before eating?” was really meant to say: “your disciples are less holy than us; they ignore the traditions of our ancestors.”  For the Pharisees, the minutia of tradition equated with holiness before God.  Jesus’ counter accused the Pharisees that they had made their traditions superior to God’s commandment even to the point of circumventing the Law entirely.  To them, the practice of "korban", giving money to the Temple, was more important than caring for one’s parents.  The values of the Law—justice, charity, and love, had been cast aside by greed, pride, and arrogance—the result of a false use of tradition.

Humans have a habit of imposing order and maintaining control with long lists of rules and unnecessarily restrictive taboos.  In the process, we mature, obedient, compliant people can miss out on the wildly extravagant God of creation who longs to break every chain and open us to the unmitigated joy of life.

I’d bet most of us are usually very conscious of abiding by the rules.    Frequent thorough hand washing, social distancing, and wearing a mask in public are common sense ways to slow or stop COVID from spreading.   We’re aware that most rules have an invaluable function and were not simply "made to be broken."   

Yet there are ways we can loosen up on "proper behavior" in our rapidly changing everyday life in order to partake more fully in the love and joy of God’s created world without compromising the health and well-being of our brothers and sisters.

Maybe once in a while we could:

… sing as we walk down the street.

…refuse to say a critical word about any other person for at least one day.

…go outside without an umbrella when it rains and raise our face to the sky, feeling the water wash over us.  If it rains hard enough to create puddles, stomp in them with abandon and giggle as the water flies everywhere.

…allow ourselves to sob loudly when we’re sad, to wail and moan and throw temper tantrums for as long as we can sustain the energy to do so.

…laugh long and loud; and smile so wide our cheeks hurt.

…notice cashiers’ name tags, call them by name, and thank them for serving us today.

…never go a day, even in the most miserable weather, without going outside for at least a moment, smelling the air, noticing the sky and trees, and shouting out our gratitude to God.

I’m sure we could add other things to this list.  Let go of at least a few reservations and fears and find ways to experience the sheer joy of living, even in the midst of trials and pain.  See the crazy, wondrous, wild abandon God instilled in creation and allow it to fill and inspire our spirit.  Lavishly spread compassion, love, and delight.  I suspect if we can do that well, God will look down and see that it is, indeed, good. (Genesis 1:20-2:4)