Thank you, Lynn Anderson

I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.
Along with the sunshine,
There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.
When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,
Or let go.
I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.
-from “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”*

I sang a lot as a kid. I know that’s hard to believe. I sang when I played in the backyard, sang when I rode my bike, sang to irritate my sister. Well, one of the songs I remember singing way back when was “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson.
I had no idea what it was about. I just knew I’d heard it on the radio and I liked it. Fact is, the song was a huge hit. It had a feel-good defiance and an easy lilt that took the post-Vietnam radio waves by storm. It preached looking life in the face and smiling real big, regardless of what it offered in return. Its (ahem) rosiness made us all feel a little better as the war wound down. The song was also willing to dismiss those who couldn’t let bygones be bygones.

What is your rose garden?

Is it kids who never misbehave, get impeccable grades and do everything you tell them to the moment you tell them to? That sounds pretty good to me. Is it a spouse or a significant other that expresses his/her love for you every time you need to be reminded, even if it’s several times a day, in that special way that makes your heart all ooey-gooey every time? That sounds nice too. Maybe your rose garden involves winning the lottery, looking like a movie star, having a dream home in the country, being a pop idol or taking over the world. All, except maybe that last one, are understandable and okay.

But sadly for some, their rose garden is a society where everybody looks like them, sounds like them, thinks like them and acts like them. And tragically, some of these people will go to unthinkable lengths to have their rose garden. Burning a cross in someone’s lawn. Spray-painting hate language on someone’s home. Setting fire to a church. Tying someone to a split rail fence and beating them to death.

Today, we recognize that bullying is an ever-present problem in America. Lately our attention has been directed to a spate of teen suicides that were the apparent result of bullying. Celebrities and public figures have been offering words of encouragement and hope to those who live with bullying while others have publicly supported the positions of the bullies. I have never experienced the kind of bullying that would make me want to end my life. I also don’t videotape someone’s private moments and broadcast them on the internet for my entertainment. This is more than just letting bygones be bygones.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
-Jesus speaking in John 16:33

My rose garden probably doesn’t look just like yours. We all love who we love, think how we think, feel how we feel. We also all have the same freedom to approach God with our brokenness, whether we are the bully or the bullied. There is hope for a world full of people with differences. As this important dialogue continues around water coolers and dinner tables, I hope we’ll remember that God’s grace reaches farther than any of us really understands.

And I hope I’ll always consider the troubling ramifications of a world that only looks like me.

*Words & music by Joe South/Sony ATV Music Publishing.