hmmm…..
Walking into the church office yesterday, I noticed something jotted on a scrap of paper stacked with the discarded bulletins from the Sunday service. Looking closer, it read: “Never put a question mark where God has placed a period.”
It’s a takeoff from Gracie Allen’s often quoted remark, “Never put a period where God has placed a comma.” Gracie used this remark to give hope to her husband George Burns when Burns was beginning to despair as Gracie’s heart disease progressed. Burns appeared to have followed her advice. After Gracie died, he went on to renew his career and starred among other things as “God” in the movie “Oh, God”. He lived to be 100 years old.
Now back to the quote, “Never put a question mark where God has put a period.” I do not know who wrote it or what it means to them. But to me, it is a statement of despair. It closes doors. It gives us no hope in a world that desperately needs hope.
Unless, of course, you are thinking about Jesus’ statement, “I am with you ALWAYS even to the end of the age.” Or, “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God”. Which, technically was said by St. Paul
When it comes to love, there are absolutes. There are periods. Does God absolutely love us no matter what? Yes! PERIOD.
hmmm…..
hmmmm, maybe the writer of the note meant something like this:
ReplyDeleteit's not, "Love thy neighbor as thyself?"
but instead, "Love thy neighhbor as thyself."
Or perhaps not, "You want me to build a sidewalk for Mary?"
but instead, "You want me to build a sidewalk for Mary."
hmmmm....I dunno but I can see where the writer may have been going through an internal process of settling something....smiles...but then again it coulda been kinda like Gracie's situation, as you surmised!
One of my favorite hymns ends with the line "that to question is the answer". I take nothing for granted and hope the search never ends. One of the most exciting parts of life for me is that revelation is not sealed. I'm a Unitarian Universalist and love the search and respect everyone else's search for truth and meaning.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you guys for your comments!
ReplyDelete