My next four sermons include character illustrations from the juvenile literature shelves of the library. Dr. Seuss may have disguised many of his hard hitting morale messages hidden within the seemingly harmless mode of rhymed verse, but many characters and lessons are not intended exclusively for those listeners under the age of 10. Theodor Seuss Geisel considered the state of childhood to be incredible and a learning opportunity which had no boundaries. Adults who were around children (namely parents and teachers)-who he considered to be "obsolete children"- could be just as dramatically led and affected by his vision and ideas. Several of his themes of creativity, the sanctity of life, the importance of human rights, the utter failure of war, the pervasive state of power struggles within the adult world, man's responsibility to care for the earth are all present within his poetic stanzas.
"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent."
"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one who is youer than you."
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind. "
"Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened."
" Don't give up. I believe in you all. A person's a person no matter how small."
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
"I know up on top you are seeing great sights, but down on the bottom we, too, should have rights!"
"When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad... You should do what I do. Think about how lucky, how so lucky you are. "
The Seussical musical has a rather inventive way to connect over 15 Dr. Seuss stories together, many by location references, placing many of the characters in Whoville which is being saved by Horton the elephant. Different stories are threaded together through friendships and the one for today was Gertrude McFuzz.
"There once was a girl-bird named Gertrude McFuzz and she had the smallest plain tail ever was.
One droopy droop feather. That's all that she had. And oh, that one feather made Gertrude so sad."
Within the realm of the musical, Gertrude tried desperately to capture Horton the elephant's attention - trying in subtle, careful, protective ways to impress him, such as growing more feathers in her tail. (Her plan backfires horribly as not only does her object of affection remain oblivious to her and her attempts for attention but her tail is outrageously exaggerated and prevents her from being able to fly.) Gertrude does come to the realization that if she is ever going to get her true love across, she must be plain, direct, convincing, obvious -she has to combine her love with undisputable action! She tells her story,
"I sailed on a junk and was practically sunk...for you. I trampled through the trees full of furious bees...for you.
I slogged through a fog and a choking smog, down a soggy slope through a stinking bog
While my slip was gripped by a vicious dog...for you.
I galloped through the snow in 11 below...for you. Yes, even though I knew I was catching the flu...for you.
And then came the hole where I caught my sole, and I rolled downhill out of all control
‘Till I broke my fall on a jagged sole...for you.
All for you, all for you…There’s nothing that I wouldn't and I couldn't and I haven’t gone through…
Now here I am, the worse for wear and here you are, I’m here! You’re there!
And maybe now you’ll know I care for you. And it took me 7 weeks, but I found your clover, too. "
We have to show the Christian love we feel, with its depth and intensity, not being careful and sophisticated to cooly show our concern from a distance. More often than not, we have to throw caution to the wind, and let God's love be shown in a plain, unashamed, uncontainable waves of careful listening which embraces the potential an interruption carries. Don't hide the love that so many people need...don't be careful, cool, calm and collected; sophisticated, unhurt. Let that love show- shining through the actions we had to make to make it plain and obvious. Listen to those complaints - are they expressing a darkness that was never there before? Have they crossed an emotional line, considering an ending to their pain, their life.
Don't discard the complaints, turn off the whining...be a declarer of God's love and take that love and let it show. Take a lesson from Gertrude McFuzz and understand the impact your actions can make for someone, someone who hears that you did it all for them. Can they easily be convinced that there is nothing that you wouldn't and couldn't and haven't gone through to get this spiritual truth of God's love across to them? Reach out and let that love shine bright!
