As I was getting ready to post this, I was wondering should I instead address what is going on in the world. I decided to go ahead with what I had planned, looking toward Passover. Passover is coming soon and I know I sometimes need a break from the news. But, with that, I do hope that everyone is healthy and finding ways to minimize the anxiety. Wishing peace, a place of calm and health.
Do you remember the first time you or your children had lice? You just cringed didn’t you! Did you scratch your head?
My first encounter with these minuscule creatures, was when my youngest came home from preschool with a note “There are lice in the classroom, please check your child’s head.” Now, by encounter I mean, I heard this and took off for the other end of the living room declaring the couch, the ‘big bed’ and certainly my lap were all absolutely off limits! Danger, stay away. My thick blond hair was well past the middle of my back and I declared that if I got lice I was shaving my head. Fortunately, I didn’t have too, though I did donate, lice free, to Locks for Love several months later. That day I was reminded I had married well when I was rescued from delousing by my spouse and the proverbial 10 foot pole. The next day everyone’s hair at school looked well brushed and smelled like rosemary. Rosemary, the natural lice repellent.
Fast forward 13 years. That same child was laying in bed with me, head on my pillow, when she asked for a lice check. My response this time? An exasperated “seriously” again? I did not bother to move or change my pillow case. Yes, she had nits, again. No, she did not share them.
Kids in Israel share everything. With their friends, with their siblings, sometimes even with strangers. I have seen my child lend a coat to a stranger on the bus and borrow someone’s hat when she is cold. It’s beautiful right? Except for those pesky little passengers that come along with the sharing.
The louse will likely be around longer than us. It seems we received this gift from the gorilla some 6-7 million years ago. Soon we will sit around the Passover table and tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Complete with a cameo appearance of the louse as the third plague. And 2500 years ago, we know the rebels on Massada fought not only the conquering Romans but also lice. We know this because they kindly left lice combs, complete with lice for our archaeologists to find.
Lice are so common there is the beloved childhood book ‘Nehama the Louse’. Brought to life by Israeli author Meir Shalev, Nehama he tells us “was curious, always forging ahead.” She wants to see the world. In the city of Holon, artist Israela Hargil brought this children’s book to life with two enormous heads – one bald and one with hair. They serve as a habitat for climbing children and larger-than-life lice, including Nechama.
Lice have nothing to do with cleanliness. In fact, having lice shows you were in close contact with someone. Talking with heads together, snuggling on the couch, playing and sharing – these are all things that kids do naturally. In doing so, they build closer and stronger social bonds with each other. In our house, it was also a time of parent-child bonding when for an hour, several times that week, the two would sit together and talk, share, love and be touched as mom did a lice check.
Lice don’t wait for an invitation to dinner. We do. Soon Passover and the story of those plagues will arrive. Before we recite them, we invite all who are hungry to come and eat. It’s a strange thing. In theory, everyone is already sitting at their tables and making the same invitation. The truly needy can’t hear us behind our closed doors. So who are we inviting? Perhaps it is an invitation for ourselves and those around us to really be present for ourselves and each other. To share not only our stories but our presence, attention and love. We have souls that hunger for other people in our lives. Needs that can be filled by close contact and sharing which in turns nourishes and inspires. We have love to give and to contribute to the world as we connect to each other and to God.
So when we reach the third plague and mention the louse. Let us see them as evidence of the sharing of love, closeness, and kindness. Perhaps their place in the world is to remind us to take care of each other. As you scratch your way through the remainder of the day, I wish for all of us the lasting impression of the louse and the kindness and touch that sharing them shows. This week, take the hand of someone you love & share the blessing of touch. Take the time to really give someone a hug, a hug with the fullness of your heart. And take the time to really listen to the story of another. In these small ways we connect with each other and bring God into the world,