Brian’s Reflection: Monday, June 24, 2008



People are queer, they're always crowing, scrambling and rushing about;
Why don't they stop someday, address themselves this way?
Why are we here? Where are we going? It's time that we found out.
We're not here to stay; we're on a short holiday.

Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious; life's so mysterious.
..Live and laugh at it all.

- Bob Fosse, crazy man, terrifically talented artist,
born on this day, 1927


I have no idea why these George Gershwin lyrics are associated with Bob Fosse. He must have used or quoted them sometime in something, but I have no clue. But as you know, that doesn’t stop me!!

I love the image! Life is just a bowl of cherries. Inviting. Shining. Sweet. Irresistible. Bursting with sunshine and juice. A hard pit at the core you need to pay attention to or you can break you tooth on it (ain’t that just Life? We sort of discussed this at our morning class on Paul before worship this morning - one has to get down to the critical principles that lie at the heart of the decisions we have to make, and that can be a hard “nut to crack”, as we say).

True, we are not here to stay. And yes, we are sort of on a short holiday. Yes, it’s important to ask the important questions - Why are we here? Where are we going? But let’s not forget the obvious staring us in the face! Life is a big bowl of cherries to be enjoyed! If we do everything else, but we forget to eat the cherries and let the sweet juice dribble down our chin and stain our fingers and lips ….. well, we have missed something central to being human and being alive. If we don’t eat the cherries, we lose our soul.

Buy a bag of cherries today (it’s easy in CA; they are sold on every corner these days!). Eat them slowly with your eyes closed. And let them be a symbol for you: - Life has been given to enjoy as much as possible, whatever other serious stuff we must do.

Brian+