Parson to Person - Daring and caring to ?Live One Inch from the Fence?

For this week?s offering, I choose to capitalize on the wisdom of Wes Seeliger, author and illustrator of a book entitled, ?One Inch from the Fence?. (Wes Seeliger, ?One Inch from the Fence?, Forum House, Atlanta, 1973.)

Seeliger?s book is a series of brief stories about living our lives in free and responsible commitment to God and to be God?s person in God?s service. Reading this book has inspired me to share one of them with you and to encourage you to live courageously sustained by an armor of faith in what is often a difficult and challenging world.

Wes Seeliger wrote about Scarface ? a gigantic, intimidating alligator in a local zoo ? who got his name and his scar from losing a battle with another alligator over the favors of a particularly fetching lady alligator. One day, Wes decided to feed Scarface an entire bag of marshmallows ? one marshmallow at a time. Seeliger did so only by disciplining himself to stay ?One Inch from the Fence? ? a flimsy, wire mesh that separated Wes from the alligator. As Wes tossed a marshmallow, Scarface would chomp down on the marshmallow which a heart-stopping, 120-teeth chunk. Wes wrote that it was a frightening but exhilarating experience ? an experience that he treasured because of how rare it was to live on the edge of danger.

Thinking more deeply, Seeliger suggested (and, I agree) that we live our lives one inch from the fence more frequently than we realize. Each moment we live is a ?blend of terror and delight.? A man and a woman stand before the altar of God and promise to ?love each other for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health, to love and cherish till death us do part.? What a promise! Fear and trembling. One inch from the fence.

The alarm rings and we get out of bed to face a day crammed with unknown happenings, events, and challenges. Ready or not ? here we come. One inch from the fence.

We tune into the news ? accidents, murders, bombs, terrorist attacks, assassinations, politicians indicted for graft, a teacher stepping over the line with one of his or her students, scientists pushing for a cure for cancer, new hope for peace in the Middle East, only a 20 percent chance of rain. See ? the threat of doom and the hope for tomorrow all wrapped up in one broadcast. One inch from the fence.

Plus, faults and foibles are present in us and in each and every individual human being. Wes advanced in his story that human beings can be frightening. Human beings can be intimidating. Human beings can be dangerous. Human beings can be as ugly as Scarface (as ugly as sin); but our task is to open ourselves completely to the fascinating, awesome and delightful thrill of being human and living in a topsy-turvy world. ?Sitting ?one inch from the fence? and throwing marshmallows to our gators.? Because that?s what faith in God is all about.