the hills are alive with…

I have a confession. I really don’t like The Sound of Music. That’s the musical / film, not the sound of music in general. It all seems just a bit too sickly sweet for me. But there is one song that I like in the film:
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens 

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favourite things

Cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favourite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favourite things

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I’m feeling sad

I simply remember my favourite things

And then I don’t feel so bad.

There is something comforting and safe about recalling favourite things. I have to say that the lyricist for that song had a relatively easy time because he could include almost anything that rhymed with other things in his list. The reason I like the song is that if we insert our own favourite things into the song (whether or not they rhyme) or even if we don’t put them in the song the recollection of them is like a security blanket.

So here are a few of my favourite things, without any attempt at making them into song lyrics and in no particular order:

Jesus (or squirrels – for those who know that joke), my family, laughter, watching Ipswich Town win, preaching, rollercoasters,  comfortable shoes, some stand-up comics, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate, a red and white striped shirt that Sally bought me, my wedding day, Christmas dinners, my baptism, The Jerk (early Steve Martin film), computers (when they work)…

One of my favourite verses in the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 5:11:

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Encouraging one another and building each other up. That’s a great thing for Christians to be doing to one another. Much better than some of the things I hear and read about! It is such a positive approach – looking for the best in other people, looking to bless them, seeking to find positives in what may be fairly negative circumstances. It’s probably got the same effect for the person on the receiving end as thinking of favourite things has for us.

So go on, encourage one another and build each other up…

One of my favourite jokes:

A man was going to the county fair one day with a pig under one arm and a chicken under one arm, and a basket on his head. He came to a crossroads and didn’t know which way to turn. While he stood there deciding, a young woman approached him, heading the same direction.

“Please, ma’am, I’m on the way to the county fair. Can you tell me which way to go?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I’m on my way there, too. We’ll go right down this way about a mile, turn left about a mile and a half, left again about a mile and we’re right there.”

He said, “Wait a minute… down here, turn left and left again? Couldn’t we save a lot of time by walking through these woods?”

She replied, “Yes, we could. But I couldn’t walk through those woods with you. Why… you might try to kiss me!”

“Listen,” he said, “how could I possibly kiss anybody with a pig under one arm, a chicken under one arm and a basket on my head?”

“Well,” she replied, “you could put that chicken on the ground, turn the basket upside down over the chicken, and I could hold that little bitty ole pig.”