I am not exceptional.  I don’t mean that in some self-deprecating way.  I mean it in the sense that rules apply, and norms and reasonable expectations are usually met. I am not exceptional, nor should I expect or demand to be exempted from rules, norms, and reasonable expectations.  All around us, however, we see a demand for exemptions and exceptions.  Sometimes it seems as if exceptions don’t just prove the rule, they are the rule.

We Presbyterians like to think of ourselves as “decently and in order” people (1 Corinthians 14:40), but too often church messes are caused by pastors or congregations convinced that their situation is exceptional, that rules and standards apply to others but not to them.

The rules of a Homeowners Association are meant to make life more pleasant for all the folks in the neighborhood, but for too loud music, mis-built fences, or poorly parked cars, some homeowners assert a personal exemption from the agreed-upon rules.  And tough luck to all the neighbors who don’t like it.

Speed limits may be a good idea for most people, but not when we’re late for work, the kids have to get to school, or we don’t want the party to start without us. “Officer, you don’t understand. Can’t you make an exception?”

Life can be difficult when you remember that you are not exceptional.  There’s a part of us that really believes we are like the citizens of Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegon (where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average).

It can be hard when you realize the rules apply to you, that you haven’t been granted an exemption, that, in fact, you are not exceptional.

To be sure, there are times when rules, norms, and expectations should and must be ignored and even violated. You should sit in the front of the bus even when they tell you to move to the back. You should refuse to cook the books even when your boss demands you do just that. You should stand for life in a culture of death. Justice demands that we take an exception to injustice.

Many of our expectations for exceptions are not a matter of justice, however. A pastor’s petulance or a congregation’s crankiness should not be rewarded with an exemption from decent and orderly procedures and policies.  Our neighbor’s self-centeredness should not earn immunity from neighborhood rules.  Our tardiness does not negate the city’s traffic laws.

In a world where an expectation of exception too often seems to be the rule, it may not be such a bad thing to live an unexceptional life.