Lawn care reveals more than grass-cutting techniques

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There is a difference between mowing the lawn and cutting the grass, my father often stated about this time every year.

Mowing the lawn sounds soft, he contended, almost French if you say it fast. "Mow de lawn," he would whisper with that southern charm and a wave of his hand. And, the genteel flavor in his phrasing would release aromas of freshly harvested grass that surely required professional and sensitive operators behind those whirring machines that can destroy.

Yet "cutting the grass," he countered, sounds harsh, like an execution where machines, saddled with high-powered motors and rotary blades, function as reformatted guillotines.

Robotic operators attack the terrain ahead as if it were the enemy standing between them and their free time. The encounter is a race to the finish.

Granted, the machine one person uses to mow the lawn can be the same machine another person uses to cut the grass. In fact, whether a lawn is mowed or cut, my father concluded, depends upon the operator.

We all know people from both schools of lawn care.

Dot, our family's neighbor for over 20 years, never, ever, cut her grass. She mowed her lawn -- meticulously, methodically, regularly and with sensitivity and respect for the personality of the grass. She was an artist with the same machine another person (sometimes my father) used to cut the grass (when he was in a hurry.)

Before my paralysis, I, too, enjoyed mowing the lawn. With my first-born in my backpack carrier, I'd push our mower back and forth across our yard. The sound put my child to sleep, a rarity in those days, while giving me time to connect my scattered thoughts. The repetitive straight lines brought order to this young mother's chaos while giving something quite uncommon in those early days of parenting -- visible results.

However, if we look beyond the grassy lawns that grace our yards, we may discover the same two groups in the business of life.

Some mow the lawn of life with sensitivity and reverence. These people seek to preserve the beauty in life, constantly doing those things that enrich relationships and improve the quality of living.

Like the mowers of lawns, these persons take time to trim, edge and genuinely respect the nature God has given each person. They not only smell the roses, but also inhale the restorative and connective properties of the well-trimmed lawns of life.

Then there are the grass cutters. These folks have one aim -- to get through life. They want to knock life down, cutting whatever is in the way. Their mission-driven mindsets focus on making things happen, running their machine over anyone unfortunate enough to be at the wrong place at the right time. The complexities of human nature are but weeds to be cut, void of unique purpose or talents. Efficiency rules with little time for reflection.

Thankfully, both lawns and life refresh as Mother Nature and Father Time prevail. Periodically, we have the chance to reset our approach.

Will we mow the lawn, or cut the grass?

This column was co-authored and edited by Rebecca Faye Smith Galli, daughter of the late Dr. R.F. Smith Jr., a longtime columnist for The Herald-Dispatch.