Sometimes life is more simple than we think!
There is a marvellous sequence in one of C. S. Lewis’s
books. An old tramp and a younger man named
Mark are held captive in a situation fraught with danger. Mark points out that they are in considerable
danger. The tramp offers his
solution. “Ah,” said the man
approvingly, “I got a plan.” “What is it?” “Ah,” said the man, winking at Mark
with infinite knowingness and rubbing his belly. “Go on. What is it?” said
Mark. “How’d it be,” said the man. . . . “How’d it be if you and I made
ourselves a nice bit of toasted cheese?”[i]
The situation is not one that either the tramp or Mark could
do anything about. Mark is a well-educated
young man concerned with the potential danger.
The tramp, a simple man, was more concerned with the immediate present
and making the best of a difficult situation.
I would not counsel passivity in the face of things that we
can do something about, and our Christian faith is not a faith of passivity,
nor is it a faith that ignores the reality of the present. On the other hand the tramp has a point. His main thing is to enjoy the present and
make of it what he can. While we can
learn from the past if we will, there is no point in trying to relive the past;
that never works. The future is not
something within our grasp. What the
tramp does is live in the present. There
are times when planning to make a toasted cheese sandwich is just the right
thing.
There is a Zen story about a man who is being chased by
tiger and leaps over the edge of a cliff to escape. As he falls he grasps the branch of a tree
and hangs dangling over a precipice.
Then he spies a strawberry growing out of the craggy side of the
cliff. “My, how sweet that strawberry
tasted.”
If we try to live in the griefs of the past or live in fear
of the future, we will miss the simple joys of the present. Pascal would remind us that we have pain in the
present. And so? Should that prevent us from accepting those
moments of love, of joy, of beauty that flow to us in the present moment; the
purr of a cat, the happy wagging friendship of the family dog, the love of a
child, or a parent, or a friend, the beauty of a sunset, the wonder of a balmy
day in the middle of winter or the wonder of cold crisp winter day. St. Paul counsels us, “Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”[ii] Sometimes a toasted cheese sandwich is really
the right thing.
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