On the Fringe

In thumbing through some commonplace words we find the word “fringe“and we find it thus in part defined as “an ornamental border…” or “something resembling a fringe; …as the outer fringe of a crowd.”

No doubt there are fringes in almost everything; but as to actual performance, fringe doesn’t seem to play a very important part. It is there. It may look well but it is only on the edge. And that in part describes people who are “on the fringe,” as well as the fringe on fabrics.

Families have their fringe. Clubs and committees have their fringe. Communities and countries have their fringe. Churches have their fringe. Every organization, every institution has its fringe of those who hang out on the edge. They aren’t altogether in or altogether out. They claim to be part of the picture when there is something good going on but refuse to be part of the picture when there are obligations to be borne.

They want the advantages of citizenship without assuming their full share of service. They want the privileges of membership without meeting their due measure of obligations. They want the love and loyalty of the family without carrying their full share of the family load. They want the blessings and benefits of the church without conformance or service or support. They want the freedom, peace and protection and prosperity of the country without giving full loyalty or allegiance.

Surely there is some stigma in just staying on the edge and never quite being part of the picture. And one wonders how much patience the Judge and Father of us all will have with those who choose to live their lives on the fringe, without becoming a real functional part of the fabric.

The larger blessings and promises of life (as well, indeed, as lesser ones) are predicated upon performance, upon participation, upon the doing of the thing, upon the living of the law, and when we do what we should do, we shall somehow, somewhere, receive the promised reward. But if willingly we fail to perform, if willingly we are found on the fringe, if we cannot quite be counted in or out, we shall fall far short of full effectiveness and far short of the compensations that come to those who can be counted on.