Mice (and other unpleasant things)

I don’t like mice. I know, that’s not very manly of me, but the list is far longer than that! Spending many years in old New England homes where mice are as predictable as black flies, I knew I needed to learn how to deal with seeing mice, dead or alive. For some reason, I thought it would help if I squinted my eyes when bending down to sweep a dead mouse into a dustpan.  Limiting my vision and not looking too closely at the corpse, I thought, made it possible to get close.

I was reminded of this strategy when I was doing my Lenten work. In a season that calls us to draw close to our character defects - those things that scare us or get in the way of our relationship with God and one another - it’s tempting to squint our eyes and not look too close.  Too often, we feel a partial view is preferable to one with eyes wide open.

·      Admitting overt lies is easier than looking close enough to see the ways we bend the truth to make us look better or others feel more comfortable. 

·      Going to church is easier than worshiping God is spirit and truth.

·      Opening our eyes to our visible unfaithfulness is easier than admitting the lust within our hearts.

·      Pledging allegiance to the flag is easier than looking at all the ways our democracy falls short.

·      Sending a check is easier than showing up.

·      Reading (or writing) a devotional is easier than living out one’s faith on a daily basis.

The ways to squint one’s eyes, spiritually, are many. When it comes to matters of the heart, it seems we’re well-practiced at squinting our eyes. Perhaps it’s time to learn how to open our eyes wide and look directly at things that scare us.