Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood – Day 17 – Monday after 3rd Sunday of Lent
To Read:
Eeyore, the old grey Donkey, stood by the side of the stream, and looked at himself in the water.
“Pathetic,” he said. “That’s what it is. Pathetic.” He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again.
“As I thought,” he said. “No better from this side. But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that’s what it is.”
There was a crackling noise in the bracken behind him, and out came Pooh.
“Good morning, Eeyore,” said Pooh.
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning,” he said.
“Which I doubt,” said he.
“Why, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can’t all, and some of us don’t. That’s all there is to it.”
“Can’t all what?” said Pooh, rubbing his nose.
“Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Here we go round the mulberry bush.”
“Oh!” said Pooh. He thought for a long time, and then asked, “What mulberry bush is that?”
“Bon-hommy,” went on Eeyore gloomily.
“French word meaning bonhommy,” he explained.
“I’m not complaining, but There It Is.”
Pooh sat down on a large stone, and tried to think this out. It sounded to him like a riddle, and he was never much good at riddles, being a Bear of Very Little Brain. So he sang Cottleston Pie instead:
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
Why does a chicken, I don’t know why.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
“That’s right,” said Eeyore. “Sing. Umty-tiddly, umpty-too. Here we go gathering Nuts and May. Enjoy yourself.”
“I am,” said Pooh.
“Some can,” said Eeyore.
(Winnie the Pooh – In which Eeyore has a birthday)
From the Scriptures:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. (Romans 12v14-16)
To Reflect:
“Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can’t all, and some of us don’t. That’s all there is to it.”
“Can’t all what?” said Pooh, rubbing his nose.
“Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Here we go round the mulberry bush.”
“Oh!” said Pooh. He thought for a long time, and then asked, “What mulberry bush is that?”
“Bon-hommy,” went on Eeyore gloomily.
“French word meaning bonhommy,” he explained.
“I’m not complaining, but There It Is.”
Some seasons of the year, usually after a meeting of General Synod, I find myself surrounded by Eeyores who are ’…not complaining, but There It Is.”. People of good heart who are very concerned about what is going on in their own ‘rather boggy and sad’ corner of the 100 Aker Wood (which can be a good thing), but are not able to lift their heads to see the friends around them wanting to celebrate life with them. Personally the way I cope with such times is to go away for a time of prayer and retreat. For this reason I was very grateful for the opportunity to lead a Quiet Day with the lovely people at Lark Rise Retreats in the days after General Synod!
But sometimes in our communities of faith, (perhaps it may even be ourselves?), we discover people who are so self-involved they cannot see the wood for the bramble patch. Today this is the Eeyore we meet. He is upset and caught in the downward spiral of a pity party of his own making. He is upset that ‘…nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that’s what it is.” And, even when Pooh comes along to cheer him up and tries to work out how Eeyore can be complaining without complaining, by singing a song – a good strategy in many gloomy situations – Eeyore has a go at him.
These ‘Eeyore Christians’ are those, often stalwart, members of the community of faith, who have a concern or worry or complaint about our common life but their disposition is such that they always, to adapt a song title, ‘Always Look on The Dark Side of Life’[1]. They, though precious and often having a key role in church life, never seem to be able to look up and are not easily able to say what it is that is grinding their gears and getting them down. Not even a song about Cottleston Pie is going to change their mood or encourage them to say what is bothering them. Literally they can’t begin to say how upset they are…
This is sad for they are precious children of our Beloved (all the animals love Eeyore despite his moroseness) and if only they could tell their concerns their burden would be shared. What are we to do? After all singing a song isn’t going to help. Tomorrow we will find out the root of Eeyore’s dis-ease, but for now what does Pooh do? Pooh sits down, and even with his very little brain, listens to find out what is not going right. No judgement, no shake yourself out of it, no leaving Eeyore to mumble in a muddy corner by himself. Pooh sits and Pooh listens. Pooh has learnt to ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.’
How about we learn to imitate him? How about the next time we meet an Eeyore Christian we resist the temptation to ignore them, to belittle them, to try and gee them up, to gossip about them, and instead sit and listen? Perhaps if we did this we might grow closer, as close as the friends in the 100 Aker Wood are, gloom will disappear and we will learn what it means to be the Body of Christ in which every member has a respected place and valued place.
To Pray:
O Lord, give me strength that the whole world look to me with the eyes of a friend. Let us ever examine each other with the eyes of a friend.
(Yayurveda)
To Do:
1) The next time you meet an ’Eeyore Christian’ smile. If you think you might be an ’Eeyore Christian’ sing a favourite hymn or worship song very loudly – this doesn’t have to be in church you may do this in private.
2) Find some time today to stop your usual routine and listen to the words of those around you and turn what you hear into prayer.
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
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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
[1] I’ve always found this an interesting title for the theme song from the movie ‘Life of Brian’. Just a cursory look at the lyrics show that Brian and Eeyore may be related….
Suffolk Vicar 