Being There

One of my all-time favorite movies was a strange, somewhat obscure film starring Peter Sellers.  Sellers played the role of Chance (pronounced “chaun-cy”) the Gardener.  His life was simply one house, one garden, and a view to the outside via TV.  After the master of the house died Chance found himself wondering and eventually in the presence and care of the President and his wife.  The comedy and humor which unfolded came from how others took Chance’s simple statements of life, plants, and the seasons from his perspective into a greater world.
 
I wish I had Chance’s simplicity and focus.  What if I could describe God from the personal, experiencial perspective one finds in Chance’s work in the garden?  What if my focus was so narrow I could engage in simple, trusting ways with others while seeing life only from God’s perspective?  What if I lived as God has taught me to live – naturally, fully, and completely in every moment no matter what else was going on around me?
 
Last night at dinner I found myself in the midst of a great conversation about God and Divinity’s relationship to the world in which we live.  The global diversity, personal perspectives, and open honesty combined to make the dialogue interesting, insightful, and thought provoking.  I came away wondering if I had described my God in Chance like terms.
 
Today I found myself listening to God describe Divinity’s children.  It resonated; “My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood—in safe houses, in quiet gardens.  The forest of your pride will be clear-cut, the city showing off your power leveled.  But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens, with your farm animals grazing freely.”  (Isaiah 32.18-20)
 
I woke this morning realizing things can be as simple as Chance’s life before the owner died.  We can live in God’s neighborhood, now.  We can be part of God’s community – sharing compassion, dispensing grace, and demonstrating acceptance, now.  Chance’s tagline applies then and now; “Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it!”