The Magnificent Certainty


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32963 Faith Column for 4-11-13 By Rev. Drs. Casey & Bob Baggott Community Church of Vero Beach

This is the Day Cartoonist Charles Schultz had a particularly masterful way of using plain language, simple drawings, and charming children (plus one dog) to convey some fairly profound notions. His “Peanuts” cartoon strip ran for nearly fifty years, its longevity a testimony to the timelessness and universality of the little cast of “Peanuts” characters and their escapades. One cartoon strip we particularly enjoyed showed a conversation between Charlie Brown and Lucy. Lucy, in her philosopher/psychologist persona, explains to Charlie Brown that life is like a deck chair. “Have you ever been on a cruise ship?” she asks Charlie. “Passengers open up canvas deck chairs so they can sit in the sun. Some people place their chairs facing the rear of the ship so they can see where they've been. Other people face their chairs forward so they can see where they're going. On the cruise ship of life, Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair facing?” A befuddled Charlie Brown answers, “Gee, Lucy, I've never been able to get mine unfolded.” (from The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 16) As usual, Charles Schultz has touched upon a highly significant issue with his deceptively simple cartoon. The life orientation we choose has enormous implications for us. Which way are you facing? Backward? Forward? Or are you having so much trouble getting life’s complexities unfolded that you have no particular perspective at all? A backward looking orientation in life is common. We all know people who consistently refer to events of the past. They may idealize the past, comparing it in rosy terms to the deplorable state of the modern world. But if we focus our gaze exclusively on the past we become incapable of dreaming new dreams or seeing with a new or revitalized perspective. Life spent looking in the rearview mirror is, after all, pretty limiting. An exclusively forward looking orientation, however, also has its limitations. People with a consistently future oriented focus are absorbed with what the lies ahead, beyond their reach. They may be hopeful for something better to materialize in their midst, or fearful about what is likely to emerge. But whether the future entices us with its potential, or worries us with its dangers, its nature is always just speculative. So if we are focusing only upon the future, we may be wasting time and energy on what will never be. Perhaps the troubling tendency for many of us to look too long backwards or forwards is what has prompted writers the world over to caution us. They claim we must not miss the gifts of this day. An ancient Sanskrit poem captures the urgency of appreciating the moment with these words: “Look to this day for it is life, the very life of life…For yesterday is but a memory, and tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day....” Or as the eloquent psalmist of the Hebrew scriptures phrased it: “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This is the day! Get your deck chair unfolded and enjoy its many gifts to you!