Rules---Who Makes Them?

Friday, December 02, 2005

Have you ever wondered about the rules of daily living? Who makes these rules? Oh, I'm not talking about the commandments of God as found in the Holy Scriptures. I have tried to do what is right from my youth. My mother died when I was just a child but she instilled in me a deep, abiding desire to do what is right---always. I have failed again and again but by the grace of God I keep trying. I always want to do the right thing. What I find myself wondering about are the rules that man/woman makes. Things like you're not suppose to wear white after Labor Day! Now what's up with that? Why? Who determines such things? I have always been told, "Don't put your elbows on the table." Well sure, it's probably not a good idea, but I do it all the time. It seems to me that children enjoy life a lot more than adults. I wonder if it because they don't have so many rules. I have worked all my life and now I am retired. When I was working I felt I always had to be in the office at a certian time although nobody told me I had to. Nobody checked on me. But in my head there was a rule---an unwritten, unspoken rule that I had imposed on myself. When I took a day off I felt guilty. Nobody made me feel that way. I did it to myself. I had a rule that I should always be on the job! I suppose we need some rules or we would be in a mess. But there are times when I think that things might be better if they were a little messier. We just need to relax. We need to refuse to define ourselves by a list of rules.