Contrary to what Forrest Gump might say, Life is not like a box of chocolates. Although to be fair, you don’t always know what you’re going to get in Life. But you generally do with a box of chocolates. Come to think of it, you can even make an educated guess with a bag of Revels nowadays.
But I digress. For me, life is far more like a Birds Trifle, which coincidentally I received as a gift at Christmas...Not a ready made one you understand, but the one where all the ingredients come in a box, and you have to make them all before bringing them together as the constituent parts that create the ultimate in desserts...Trifle...
Why do I say this? Well, because I believe too many people live lives of fruitless expectation. Lives that expect everything to be handed to them on a plate. Ready made, so to speak. Too many people want everything to look rosy on the outside, without any understanding of what goes into the finished product. If we open a pack of Bird’s Trifle (of whatever flavour), and take time and effort to make it, we are rewarded with the wonder of a trifle that is unique because we had a hand in its creation. That trifle we have made has hidden depths, every bite a deluge of flavours and textures thanks to the numerous layers that make up the whole. We will not, at this point, digress into the ’Land of Friends’ where trifles apparently include mince, that well known ingredient of trifles throughout the world.
This world we live in has many layers, just like a trifle. It has many ingredients and hidden depths. We can choose to live within this world as those who are happy to accept what we are given without question, or we can choose to open the box, to delve inside and invest some of our precious time and effort in how we live. Do we choose to stand apart? Not from life, but from the expectations of a society that celebrates putting others down.
A society who’s media thrives on bullying celebrities and others. A society where money and possessions are king of the hill. A society that lives off of the politics of envy. Or do we go with the status quo? No, not the band... Do we choose to have an easy life where we fit in? I’m sure we can all think of examples where that is exactly what we have done. I can only think of one person who didn’t. I wish I was more like him.
But I am human. I make mistakes and errors in judgement. So do you, if you are honest with yourself. Does that give me carte blanche to castigate you? Or you me? No, of course it doesn’t. Few people would believe it does. It’s okay to disagree. It’s okay to stand apart. It’s okay to say this is not my way, and I ask you to accept that. And it’s okay to love one another as Jesus loves us. Because at the end of the day, we’re all just Trifles with hidden depths, and layers and a multitude of ingredients that come together to reproduce some truly incredible and unique people, whatever our belief system may be.
So with rueful apologies to those who may be offended by being likened to a trifle, may you always be blessed, in whatever form that may take.
Rev Paul
