Landslide

I woke up this morning to Stevie Nick's rich, gauzy voice singing "Landslide." I was reminded that a few years ago I started thinking about the "you" in line 11 as both Jesus and my extended family. It is hard to grow up (spiritually, anyway) when so many of those around you (and within you) beg you to remain a child. Part of you feels apologetic, as if you've somehow wronged them in the shedding of your old skin. Did Adam and Eve feel it? From the Genesis account, it sure seems so. Suddenly, in their fallen (a.k.a. enlightened, independent) state, they understood that they were naked--and they felt ashamed. They tried to hide from God. But maybe they presumed wrongly about God's reaction. Maybe Moses or whoever jotted the account down got it wrong. God sent them on their way from Eden (childhood?) clothed in animal skins he tailored for them. This sounds to me as if he was interested in equipping them against the elements, not punishing them for growing up.

Last night Sam asked me why I didn't resort to tactics like guilt or fear on him and his siblings in order to motivate them to do chores.

"Why would I want to do that?" I asked him.
"Well, I've seen Aunt Nancy do it with Evan and Lexie..."

Sam had just spent several days at my sister's house. My sister is very good at housekeeping and organizing. Sam loves structure; he thrives in such environments. Yet, earlier yesterday he'd said, "I don't think Evan and Lexie obey their parents out of love but out of fear. Their parents have taught them that disobeying your parents is the same as disobeying God. So they're always afraid of getting punished." (He'd also asked several questions about hell, so I assume he'd heard about that delightful concept while at his cousins,' too.)

I explained to Sam that, while I had been well-acquainted with guilt and fear as a child, I refused, "to lay those trips on you guys. I want you to do your chores because you love me, not because you fear punishment."

Of course, fear often gets you more efficient results than lovingkindness--especially for laid-back types like me who value revery over housecleaning.

But I don't care. In my opinion, efficiency and results are overrated. After Adam and Eve vacated the garden, God stationed an angel bearing a flaming sword at the entrance. He didn't want anyone else to enter. Not only did he want to make sure that no one ate of the Tree of Life, but I like to imagine that he also had decided to let the garden grow wild. They say that Eden is located somewhere in modern-day Iraq. No one has found it, though, because it's overgrown with weeds, wildflowers and, perhaps, derelict fruit trees. Now it's just an unremarkable patch of terrain.

When people change, landscapes change. There is alteration--sometimes even upheaval, overturned earth. But there is also renewal and growth and creation. Maybe God is in the unpredictable movement, the quake and the shiver and the wind rustling through leaves--not in the greenhouse.

Landslide (1975)
I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
'Till the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down.