Sermon Library
“Life is Like an Ice Cream Cone”
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
December 30, 2007
Service Theme: Christmas I - 2007
Christmas I – 2007 December 30, 2007
Life Is Like an Ice Cream Cone
It has been said that the secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and to have the two as close together as possible. I don’t follow that slogan too often. But this being the Sunday after Christmas and the last Sunday of the year, I will try to do my best. Actually, I just want to close the year with a few quotes. I happen to be a person who loves quotes. I have more books on quotes than anyone should have. I have a file folder entitled “Favorite Quotes.” I enjoy learning the origin of words and I enjoy writers who can put words together that express life in a poignant, personal and meaningful punch-line.
When I opened up my file the other day, one of my first quotes was “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love the Lord.” (Romans 8:28) Right after that I have, “Lord, ain’t nothin going to happen to me today that you and I can’t handle.” Next is “that man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.” (Thoreau) And speaking of Thoreau, I have a wooden plaque that always hangs by my desk with another quote of his “If one advances consistently in the directions of one’s dreams and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
If we just consider these first few quotes they have a certain commonness about accepting life as it is, to do our best with what we have and keep faith that we will be okay in the end. It seems like a good year’s end and year’s beginning message. That which ends, simply and immediately, evolves into a new beginning. Christmas and New Years happens during the time of the solstice when the sun is at either its northernmost or southernmost position and the 23% axis of the earth creates shorter days and longer nights on one side and longer days and shorter nights on the other as well as summer and winter. As soon as one season is over the next season begins. There are physical cycles to our existence just as there is day and night, winter and summer. Nature tells us that there is always something fading away and always something newer and brighter.
The fact that we celebrate the birth of Jesus during the rebirth of the cycle of the earth is most interesting and I think meaningful. There is new birth and new life all around us at all times. I would like to think that God is giving us a truth about life. You know, sort of like a great quote. Ever since the beginning of known history people have celebrated beginnings and endings. We will celebrate New Year’s Eve as well as New Year’s Day in various ways. People have come to Aspen from all over the world to celebrate this time of the season.
Beginnings and endings just seem to be part of who we are as people living on this ever moving and recycling planet. T.S. Eliot said, “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” In the words of another great, and I do mean great philosopher, Forrest Gump who said, “My momma always said ‘you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.’” Forrest Gump also said, of course, “My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never known what you’re gonna get.”
During a planning meeting this week a good friend mentioned that it is always important to make plans, but what really happens can also be unpredictable. The person mentioned some past and unexpected challenges that have been met and survived and then referred to another pending change and said, “Just when you think everything is getting back in order, something else comes up. Oh Well.” The person had a good attitude. Rev. Charles Swindoll said, “We cannot change our past. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. What we are in charge of is our attitude.” After listening to the person’s good attitude, I serendipitously came upon a quote which really started the whole message of quotes this morning. “Life is like an ice cream cone. Just when you think you got it licked, it drips on you.”
Now I am starting to look up other quotes like this. “Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep.” That’s by Carl Sandburg. It is good to make plans for the year 2008, but as this person in the meeting reminded us, the “best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” We need something more than just plans and resolutions. We need to just be, accept ourselves and our situations and live. Here is a great quote from John Lennon. “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.”
In keeping with this thought here is another great quote from Forrest Gump. You know I do not go to a lot of movies at the movie theater. I only go when I have received a lot of recommendations. I think Forrest Gump is just about one of my favorites however. He said, “I don’t know if we each have a destiny or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you Jenny.”
Some people feel that they are always a victim while others feel they can control just about everything. I think Forrest is correct – it is a little bit of both. Most importantly, we make choices, emotional and spiritual choices about how we see the past year and how we approach the new year. Albert Einstein said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Einstein also said, “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” He also said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Lucy in Peanuts cartoon said, “Life is like a 10 speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
I believe we can keep learning and growing. Often it is two steps forward and one step back, but it is still moving and getting somewhere. George Washington Carver said, “How far in life you go depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong: Because someday in life you will have been all of these.” Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This past Advent Season we memorialized the life of Peggy Baxter, a woman who has always served in a church and for 25 years in this Chapel. People and family spoke. She is remembered for her unconditional love of family and others and her multiple services in the community. May this be our resolution every year and every day. Mark Twain said, “Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
You know, to give a sermon of quotes may seem unusual, but more importantly I call your attention to the fact that we are simply surrounded with quotes in this Chapel. Each stained glass window is artistically depicting a series of quotations called the Beatitudes from Jesus.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
This is the opening for the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus. It is a collection of quotations, most of which are unrelated to one another and simply a number of sayings of life that help us to truly live. This Christmas, I mentioned that we might consider not only being reminded of the birth of Jesus and God incarnate in our world and lives, but also the symbol and sacrament of birth and rebirth in our own lives. Jesus said that we must be born again. I think that process and journey is one which can happen each year and each day. A year passes away and a new year begins. A day passes away and a new day begins. I think that is God’s plan.
Donald Miller said, (I don’t know Donald Miller, but it is another wonderful quote) “It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You may feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things.”
I think that is my message this morning, this last Sunday of 2007. I could definitely go on with another couple hundred quotes, but I did say I would try to keep this shorter, didn’t I? I also implied that that was unlikely. Another nameless preacher said, “I am beginning my sermon now and I will conclude my sermon soon. I hope we can all begin together at the same time and finish at the same time.”
Amen and Happy New Year.
Gregg Anderson – Aspen Chapel