Trash or Treasure?

Matthew 7:1

Soko Morinaga tells this wonderful story--
When he was a student, his teacher gave him the job of cleaning their garden. There were leaves, dirt, and all sorts of rubbish cluttering the garden paths, so Soko swept with great vigor, amassing a huge pile of trash. He asked his teacher what he should do with the trash. His teacher flatly replied, "There is no trash!" He sent Soko to get some bags to collect the pile. When Soko returned, his teacher had sifted the pile so the leaves were all on top, the rocks and pebbles in the middle, and the dirt and moss at the bottom. He ordered Soko to take the leaves to fuel the fire in the house. When Soko returned, the teacher ordered him to take the rocks and pebbles to restock the piles beneath the downspouts from the gutters--the rocks kept the ground from eroding. When Soko returned, the teacher ordered him to take the remaining dirt and moss to fill in any holes or worn places in the garden. There was no pile left.

Mr. Morinaga said that this object lesson opened his eyes to how easily we discard so much that is around us, including the people nearby. Simply because we don't want to be bothered, we reject stuff as garbage. Worse, we will do the same with human beings with whom we do not want to interact.

Pick any of the four Gospels. It does not take a long nor a deep reading to find the people with whom Christ chooses to be--he had an uncanny predilection for the "trash." The good and faithful churchfolk around him could not understand why this rabbi--a holy man--would sit at table with "sinners, tax collectors, and Samaritans"--did he have no sense of propriety at all?

Christ understood Mr. Morinaga's teacher quite well. There is no trash.

What exists is a great collection of human beings, all broken and flawed to various degrees. We are all struggling to make sense of life. We are all dealing with our finitude in one way or another--the seventy year old bopping to Judas Priest's heavy metal; the teen driving ninety miles an hour absolutely convinced she will never die because 16 year olds don't die; the mother of three realizing she will not see her great-grandchildren graduate; and so on--denial to acceptance. We all say things we wish we never said. We all do things we know are foolish. We hurt someone, we get hurt.

But as we deal with this mess of being human, we try to boost ourselves by stratifying the world--good/bad; decent/worthless; them/us--and those who are not us, we dismiss.

As God looks over the mass of humanity, though, God sees the treasure within each and every heart. God then looks for those who will act as Mr. Morinaga's teacher--those who will make the effort to sift and sort, revealing that treasure. Such folk reveal that everyone has something to offer. Such folk reveal that no one deserves to be trashed. Such folk lead us into the deep understanding that every human being is a unique act of God's creative will.

In so doing, we discover the wondrous miracle of the world in which we live. There is no trash. Every thing has its purpose. Every person has their place.

So, rethink our distinctions, refocus your eyes--see the wonders of God before us everywhere in everybody.