The Theology of Dr. Seuss

          Someone was telling me the other day that they had pity on me for a situation I was facing. I decided to do a little research and see what pity really meant. One definition puts it this way, “Through insincere usage, it now has more unsympathetic connotations of feelings of superiority or condescension, usually seen as derogatory. According to this view, it's based in conscious or unconscious lack of respect to the sufferer's dignity who is seen as inferior.”

            While I hardly think I need pity, it got me thinking. What kind of emotions does God feel towards us? What kind of emotions that have become human are more of God’s making? What kinds of emotions are more on the human side of things? I decided to pull down a book my friend reminded me of the other day that has been around since before I was born, 1990 to be exact. Dr. Seuss’ last book published before his death, Oh, the Places You’ll Go speaks wonders in a world bent on pity. As the book states, “I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you. You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.”

            Life may have its downturns, it’s upturns as well, but in reality we should never feel pity for someone, in the context of a negative sense. We all deal with life’s dark moments, but God never pitied us. You may be thinking that’s so far from the truth, but God continued to amaze us all as he translated a pity into empathy. God came and took on human form, God came and now can say, “been there, done that” The wonderful thing about Dr. Seuss is that he knows that life doesn’t end on the prickle-ly perch. Dr. Seuss goes on to say, “So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So... Get on your way!”

            Sometimes in life, when you’re thrown a curve ball, it’s easy to be consumed by that curve ball. I was never big into sports but I know that if a curve ball is thrown, it can throw the baseball player into confusion for the rest of the game. Don’t let situations in life get to you, that’s the great adventure of life. The holistic approach to life is the concept of knowing that things will become stumbling blocks, but you have to be willing to move those stumbling blocks and in turn you become a better person. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly things in my past I would change, take-back or recreate. But God comes to us, not with pity, but empathy.

Dr. Seuss couldn’t have said it better than this, “You'll get mixed up, of course, 
as you already know. 
You'll get mixed up 
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's 
a Great Balancing Act.
 Just never for get to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
” Never ever show someone pity, try for a change being empathetic, and those mountains will suddenly make more sense.