Twice a month, Morgan and I attend MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) at church. I get to enjoy some brunch, as well as the company of other moms, and learn about new topics, while Morgan goes to Moppets and plays with other kids her age. It really is a great thing, as this program is Christian-based, and each topic is presented with Christ at the center.
Our theme at MOPS this year is "The Home Front", and each week different rooms in the house guide our study. The kitchen entailed recipe ideas and ways to include your children in meal preparation. The office was all about finances and thinking about how God wants us to handle our money. The bedroom was - you guessed it - all about intimacy in your marriage as God intends it (as an aside: this topic was presented by a young pastor and his wife, and was absolutely hilarious)! On the schedule for next time is the kid's bedrooms, and I'm curious to see where exactly that will lead.
Today, however, our discussion centered on the living room. Thinking of that theme, what are we willing to share with others? Our speaker used the Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby to emphasize her presentation: "all the lonely people, where do they all come from?"
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?
Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
Forget the religious mentions in the song. The point our speaker was trying to make was this: Do you leave the house with a mask on? What kind of walls do you put up so that people can't learn about the real you, or so that you don't have to learn about others? This didn't have to be deep, although, I'm sure for some moms there today, the skeletons in their closets were quite scary. But our speaker gave some great examples of barriers.
- We check out at the U-Scan so we don't have to interact with the cashier.
- We use the drive-through to avoid any personal connections.
- We depend on caller-ID so we can pick and choose to whom and when we talk.
- We build our homes with private back decks instead of sweeping front porches so no one knows our business.
- We make a trip to the grocery store for that one cup of sugar or egg we're short, instead of knocking on our elderly neighbor's door to prevent an endless conversation.
Why are we afraid to know one another better? When I stopped to think about all the ways I've avoided such relationships, I'm astounded. I DO worry about Gene extending our chat at the fence line for too long. We DID plant bushes with the hopes that they would grow into a nice wall of privacy from the neighbors. I AM guilty of checking the number on my cell before deciding to answer.
For some reason, this really struck a chord with me today. And so when I saw Sue next door this afternoon, I was sure to go over and say hello. And it was nice to be the one that initiated our talk, and nice to know that she enjoyed my company, even for five minutes.
In this day and age, we avoid eye-contact. Any stranger who talks to us can't be trusted, and must have ulterior motives. I agree that we shouldn't be so naive to go trusting the entire world. But would it really hurt to know more about my mailman than his name?
