“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” It is the first line of Robert Frost’s poem
Mending Wall. In the poem Frost reflects on the stone walls between neighbors in New England and the annual spring ritual of repairing those walls.

The poem is often best known for the sentiment of the neighbor: “Good fences make
good neighbors.” But Frost is not so sure about that. He wonders if perhaps there is something fundamental about creation and life together (the “Something there is”) that naturally acts to pull down walls. And perhaps the “best neighbors would not need fences.” But rather than take a chance we go back to fixing the wall each spring.

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

The season of Lent is upon us. It is the annual Church season of 40 days for reflection
and preparation for Holy Week and Easter. It is also the annual season in New England when falling walls are mended. Strange coincidence, isn’t it?

So I’m wondering with Frost that maybe during Lent we might wonder a little about
the walls we build between each other. Walls between spouses. Walls between a parent and child. Walls that divide families. Walls that separate old friends. Walls that keep possible new friends away. And maybe we could just take a chance and let the stones lay on the ground once in a while.

Certainly there are times and places for walls to protect ourselves. Abusive and selfish
people are always looking for weakness in a wall. But in the current epidemic of loneliness I wonder if we just have too many walls. And we are discovering that social media is not the same thing as a neighbor becoming a friend.

So maybe this Lent it is worth reflecting on a relationship to mend rather than a wall
to repair. To whom might you write a note, share a cup of coffee, or make a phone call?

How might there be one less wall so to make your life better?

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Might that be God?

Glenn