Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood

Day 6 – Tuesday after 1st Sunday of Lent

To Read:

What about a mouthful of something?” [said Rabbit]

Pooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was very glad to see Rabbit getting out the plates and mugs; and when Rabbit said, “Honey or condensed milk with your bread?” he was so excited that he said, “Both,” and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, “But don’t bother about the bread, please.”  

And for a long time after that he said nothing … until at last, humming to himself in a rather sticky voice, he got up, shook Rabbit lovingly by the paw, and said that he must be going on.

“Must you?” said Rabbit politely.

“Well,” said Pooh, “I could stay a little longer if it – if you —” and he tried very hard to look in the direction of the larder.

So he started to climb out of the hole.  He pulled with his front paws, and pushed with his back paws, and in a little while his nose was out in the open again… and then his ears… and then his front paws… and then his shoulders… and then

(Winnie the Pooh – Chapter Two – Pooh Goes Visiting)

From the Scriptures:

..For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.  

(Romans 7v18-19)

To Reflect:

It seems that Rabbit was right all along.  After reluctantly letting Pooh come and visit him for ‘a little something’  Pooh then proceeds to have a go at everything available (apart from the bread, he does know he can be a little greedy) and promptly eats Rabbit out of house but can’t escape his home!

We will look more at the reasons for Pooh’s ‘captivity’ in the coming days but for today I want to ponder that distinctively Anglican position of fence sitting.  Or as our Cousins in the United States call it, being a ‘Mugwump.’  It seems to be a uniquely human trait that sometimes the consequence of our actions is that we can neither go forward nor backward but are simply stuck in the middle.

Many situations in our common life as the Family of God call for a generous grace suffused via media  through which we might be able ‘by all means save some’ (cf 1 Corinthians 9v19-23).  But such grace requires intentional activity on our part, choosing to seek out those who are separated from each other and reminding them that we are all one people of one family.   Fence sitting can too often be a decision to abandon our responsibility to care for each other.

When I get ‘stuck in the middle’ with my faith, unable to move forward or backward and become someone who is a block to the faith of others, there are one or two frequent causes:

1. I have become focussed on my self (Honey AND Condensed Milk!) and so, looking always inward, I do not see what is happening around me.
2. I have become too focussed on one cause or another; and in my passion for my view, my cause, my rights I forget that others have needs and concerns as well.
3. And, If I’m honest, I get lazy and selfish.  I insist that everyone else keeps quiet, be they loving spouse, snoring dog or whistling postal worker,  so that I can have my time of peace and quiet.  My voice must be heard first and frequently.  My prayers are more important than that of others so it is ok (I tell myself) to be tapping away on my phone updating Social Media during someone else’s intercessions in the Daily Office – Mea Culpa 😔

And my justification for all this is that if I’m not just a little bit self-serving how can I be there to serve others?  If ever there was a perversion of the command to ‘love others as we love ourselves’ then I am an expert in it!

Sometimes it looks as if there is very little difference between Pooh Bear and the Vicar of Felixstowe and the refrain to both of our lives could be ‘Me, Myself, and Me Again’

I (we?) need to learn, unlike Pooh Bear, to be a little more nimble and better able to response to human need before selfish greed.  If we do this we stop being a hindrance to people on the journey of faith and instead become guides and fellow pilgrims

To Pray: 

I want to want to want to want you God.

(Michael Ramsey)

To Do: 

1)  Next time you are offered a second helping of any food or drink decline politely.

2)  Try to spend a day without using the word ‘mine’.  (For further thoughts on this please read: Resisting the Prowling Lion – Day 30

Just for Fun:

I borrowed the phrase ‘Me, Myself and Me Again’, from a piece of music used on a BBC TV Game Show.  Produced by Vivian Fisher, who was enamoured of backtracking (adding recordings over his own recordings) this marvellous piece of Mouth Music is a treat for lovers of brass band music.

 

Please Note:  These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com on Twitter as @SuffolkVicar, and on my public Facebook page Rev Andrew Dotchin

If you would like them as a daily email please send a request to vicar@felixparish.com

Acknowledgements:

Text from ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ by A.A. Milne copyright © The Trustees of the Pooh Properties.

Line illustrations copyright © The Estate of E.H. Shepard.

Colouring of the illustrations copyright © 1970 and 1973 The Estate of E.H. Shepard and HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Prayers are from ‘The Little Book of Prayers’ edited by David Schiller copyright © David Schiller 1996: Workman Publications.

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.  Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

These Reflections, ‘Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2024