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Richmond Congregational Church
United Church of Christ

P.O. Box 302 • Richmond VT, 05477 • (802) 434-2053 • Email: church@rccucc.org

Sunday Worship 10:00 AM September-June, 9:00 AM July & August • Nursery care provided

Rev. Alice M.C. Ling, Pastor • Church office hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 8:30am - 3:00pm

All are Welcome

On my way to work today, I learned that January 24 is a very important day. Seventy-five years ago, Theodor Geisel published his first book, launching a writing career that continues to have a profound impact on children’s literature. Who among us doesn’t delight in the rhymes and rhythms of Green Eggs and Ham or The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who or Oh, the Places You Will Go, or of course, How The Grinch Stole Christmas?  I better stop before I try to recite the titles of all 46 children’s books written by the man better known as Dr. Seuss.

I didn’t know until this morning that his first book was And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street. What really caught my attention was the story behind the story. As National Public Radio told it, that book was born when Geisel was stuck on board a boat for 8 days, returning to the States from Europe. One of the most prominent sounds of that long trip was the rhythmic drone of the boat’s engine. Geisel picked up a feel for that rhythm, mixed it thoroughly with his imagination and creative spirit, and was thus launched into his own unique expression of pulse and rhyme. That particular story is one of a 10-year old boy named Marco, who was bored with the old horse and wagon that he saw on Mulberry Street, and in their place created visions of zebras, reindeer and elephants. Geisel received 27 rejection letters for his first attempt, and was about to destroy the work when he ran into an old friend who agreed to take a look at it. And as they say, the rest is history.

Two aspects of that story seem fertile for further consideration. One is the potential that lies in paying attention to the ordinary. If a phenomenon like the writings of Dr. Seuss can be established by doing something creative with the monotonous churnings of a boat engine, what might others be able to make of ice particles on window panes, African Violet blossoms, a bucket of scrap lumber, children playing in a mud puddle or cast off snake skins? If God could establish the Church with a teenager like Mary, carpenter like Joseph, fishermen like Peter and Andrew and persecutor like Paul, what are the possibilities for faithful discipleship from the likes of us? The extraordinary lies around the corner, just waiting for the moment of discovery and imagination.

The second nugget I see in this story is the importance of persistence. Twenty-seven letters of rejection, huh? Wow! I don’t know if I’ve worked up the nerve to send my poems off more than a handful of times, and I suspect I’ve never sent the same one out more than once. Maybe twice. When (or maybe the issue is “if”) we really believe in something, we need to stick with it, trusting that when the time is right, something beautiful will come to life. Keep knocking, keep trying, keep dreaming, keep reaching. If God lies in the effort, doors will open and joy will blossom.

As I move into the month ahead, I’ll do my best to pay attention and hang in there, clinging to the words of Dr. Seuss himself: 

And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed!
Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.

Peace, my friends.
Alice