Minister’s Message
June 15, 2010
Dear Friends,
In one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons, Lucy and Linus have just finished a chicken dinner. Lucy tries to explain to her brother how wishing on the wishbone works. “This is a wish bone,” she says. “We both make our wishes, and then pull it apart. Whoever breaks off the biggest part gets his wish.”
Linus asks, “Do we wish out loud?” Lucy answers: “Of course we wish out loud. If you don’t wish out loud, the wish-answerer won’t know what to bring you.”
Lucy begins the wishing: “Let’s see now. I wish for a new doll, a new bicycle, four new sweaters, some new saddle shoes, a wrist watch and about a hundred dollars.” Linus then gets his turn: “I wish for a meaningful life for myself and all my friends. I wish for peace in my heart and in the world. I wish for opportunities to love and serve, and . . .”
Lucy grabs the unbroken wishbone in disgust, throws it away, and says – “You seem to have a knack for spoiling everything!”
There’s a little bit of both Lucy and Linus in all of us. Call it what you will – peace of mind, a sense of well-being, contentment with life . . . we all want it. At the same time, however, we resist with all our might the age-old truth about such happiness – the truth that it cannot be found in a new bicycle, a wrist watch, one hundred dollars, or even a hundred million dollars. Material things do not buy happiness. Seneca, a Roman philosopher and contemporary of Jesus, put it well: “No one can be poor who has enough, nor rich who covets more than he has.”
As I write, summer in all its glory is unfolding around us. What many of us wished for so ardently last Winter – warm sun-lit days followed by cool clear nights – is all around us now. The “biggest part of the wishbone” is yours and mine to enjoy.
The old song lyric puts it well – “Summertime, and the living is easy . . .” Most of us have more than enough “things” with which to enjoy it. With Linus, therefore, my wish for you is the peace of mind which comes from knowing we are loved unconditionally by the One in whose world we so now delight. May this summer be a time of re-creation and renewal for all of us!
Peace,
Bob
Voice: (802) 862-5010 Fax: (802) 862-0960
E-Mail: fcb@firstchurchburlington.org