My son Chris went to Wabash College. It is one of the last all men’s colleges in the country and there is a kind of collegial mystique among its graduates that has continued since its founding in 1832. Chris loved his years at Wabash and looks back at his time there as critical to his professional success today.
What I really liked about Wabash was the one rule all students had to live by…there were no other rules, just the Gentleman’s Rule. The college says, “At Wabash College, our 900 students become leaders by living their lives with one, succinct rule of conduct: “The student is expected to conduct himself at all times, both on and off campus, as a gentleman and a responsible citizen.”
That’s it. No volume of dos and don’ts. All that is expected is for a man at Wabash to conduct himself according to that one high collective standard, which if you think about it, counters just about every dumb thing that can pop into a college boy’s head.
As a kid, we too had one rule in our family that overarched all our activities. It was “Don’t embarrass mommy.” Yep. Didn’t need another rule. That pretty much covered any kind of trouble we could get into. Like, don’t have problems at school, don’t talk in church, don’t dress inappropriately, etc., etc. Even not getting home on time could inadvertently become an embarrassment for mommy, so—you get it, we were home when we were supposed to be home. Our rule was kind of a parental joke—except they meant it and it worked.
Interestingly Jesus gave us the original one last-a-lifetime rule that, if followed, covers any action you might ever think about making. In Matthew 22:39 he said “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. But apparently there was a lack of understanding about just who “thy neighbor” might be. Maybe only the people that agree with us? Or maybe just the people next door? There were just a lot of questions swirling around that particular instruction.
So in Luke he spelled it out for everyone with the story of the Good Samaritan. Here Jesus tells us exactly who that “neighbor” is. The man was laying at the side of the road, beaten and bruised. His people were enemies of the Samaritans. (We’re talking Hatfields and McCoys here.) But the Samaritan never paused to consider all that. The man needed care and money would be required to provide it. Although others passed by, the Good Samaritan stopped and showed love and generosity to a man, who to him was simply a neighbor. Clearly, this was a parable loaded with meaning for all those who couldn’t quite wrap their minds around the original concept.
To love thy neighbor in Jesus’ context is to love everyone. We are to set aside judgements, knowing that we all come from different places and situations. The prize comes when we strip away our exterior armor in an act of kindness, and allow our humanity to connect with the humanity of another. There it is, Jesus style.
One Rule. So easy to talk about. So difficult to do.
Blessings,
Nancy
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