PENTECOST VI
July 17, 2022
“Square Pegs and Round Holes”
Does the old expression, “Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole” resonate with you? It might be used to describe someone who is ill-suited for whatever task or activity they’re attempting, or, more positively, to acknowledge a person’s uniqueness and individuality. Considering what the origin of this saying might be, I wondered if it was coined by early carpenters and furniture makers. These craftsmen constructed everything from furniture to homes, carefully fitting parts together (remember your Lincoln Logs?) and using wooden pegs precisely shaped, pounded in to matching holes to hold the piece together.
Just about everyone has experienced the sensation of not fitting in, or not belonging. It’s not a good feeling at all, as most of us probably prefer to slip smoothly into place and feel comfortable and included. For a square peg is to fit into a round hole, it needs to be trimmed into a different shape, perhaps sanded so it won’t catch halfway through. Or the hole has to be squared off on the sides to accommodate the peg — altogether something of a project.
Among the many lessons modern-day Christians can learn from the early apostles, missionaries and teachers, is that we are meant to be square-peg people. We aren’t meant to slide effortlessly into existing spaces, barely noticed by those around us. We are meant to be the ones with sharp corners and rough edges, called to speak out on behalf of those who have no voice, to call on our communities to be places of acceptance and support, and to share Christ’s message of love, forgiveness, and compassion.
When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he spoke about what it meant to follow him, and as we read in Matthew 5, we find promises even in the worst of circumstances. We love “the blesseds” in which he speaks of the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. They will receive mercy, comfort, the kingdom of heaven, and be called children of God. But then Jesus speaks of the darker side of following him in verses 11-12: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
It’s a challenge to be told we should rejoice in the face of being persecuted, reviled and falsely accused, but we are given strength in the promise of a great reward in heaven. Over the centuries, Christians have faced dangers, hardships, and persecution and they, too, received this same assurance that earthly evils cannot overcome the loving protection of God himself. And we have the promise that all the lopsided, rough-edged, worn-out square pegs are welcomed with rejoicing and loving embraces into the presence of God, our creator and loving father.
Blessed at all times and in all places,
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers