A few days ago, I was involved in a reading program at the
local elementary school. We were to
bring our own books and take about 20 minutes to read. I brought a favorite of mine from the days of
my childhood, also a book that all of my children can probably recite by heart:
it is Dr. Seuss’ Bartholomew and the Oobleck. It is not one of Seuss’ Red Fish,
Blue Fish or Green Eggs and Ham-type works, where there is a sentence or two of
end rhyme on each page. It is a children’s
book that the author published in 1949.
If you don’t know the story, it concerns a mythical king in
a mythical kingdom who is dissatisfied with the ordinary rain, snow, fog and
sleet that fall from the sky on a regular basis. He wants something new. So, he commissions his magicians to create
something unique in the way of precipitation.
So, they make Oobleck. It is a
green, sticky goo that adheres to everything, immobilizing the kingdom. It is when the king says, “I’m sorry,” that
the stuff ceases to fall, and the mess clears up.
It is a children’s book.
It is fun. It is colorful. It is Dr. Seuss. But it is also not a bad thought for the
Lenten season. “I’m sorry” is not the
same as “I repent.” But at the kid’s
literature level it is awfully close. Maybe
if we start there, the path to repentance has more clarity as time moves on.
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