"The temptation is always to reduce life to size. A bowl of cherries. A rat race. Amino acids. Even to call it a mystery smacks of reductionism. It is the mystery."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 6)
When I first read the above quote, I recalled immediately the Erma Bombeck book If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What am I doing in the Pits. And of course the famous line from Forrest Gump, "mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never knew what you were going to get."
The other two examples given, a rat race and amino acids seem to me to be a much more negative view of life. But what about life as the mystery?
For me I would see that as approaching each day as if it were a mystery to be solved. One that I need to pay attention to the clues all around me. To face the unknown of each day, living out the command to Joshua, "be strong and courageous." However unlike a mystery that eventually gets solved, life isn't like that for me. It is a slowly evolving and unfolding each moment, big or small. Sometimes just when you think you have it figured out, a new twist comes along and the journey goes on.
Perhaps when I die, I will truly understand what this life was about. But for the moment, I'll have to live moment by moment, enjoying the cherries while spitting out the pits. And while I never know what I'll get in that box of chocolates, I should know that occasionally I'm going to encounter some nuts.
Blessings,
Ed
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