I've just decided that it's A A Milne week in Dibley!  I have spent part of today writing the address for a wedding service on Friday and an interactive all age Pentecost service for Sunday.  Suprisingly for someone who tends to preach pretty 'straight' sermons in both cases I found myself drawn to A A Milne's poems!

The wedding couple have chosen Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (two are better than one) as their Bible reading.  I've always likened the writer of Ecclesiastes to Eeyore, and now I found myself reminded of a poem about Christopher Robin and Pooh that expressed much the same sentiments as this little extract from Mr Life-is-Meaningless himself: -

Wherever I am, there's always Pooh, 
There's always Pooh and Me. 
Whatever I do, he wants to do, 
"Where are you going today?" says Pooh: 
"Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too. 
Let's go together," says Pooh, says he. 
"Let's go together," says Pooh.

 

"What's twice eleven?" I said to Pooh, 
("Twice what?" said Pooh to Me.) 
"I think it ought to be twenty-two." 
"Just what I think myself," said Pooh. 
"It wasn't an easy sum to do, 
But that's what it is," said Pooh, said he. 
"That's what it is," said Pooh. 

 

"Let's look for dragons," I said to Pooh. 
"Yes, let's," said Pooh to Me. 
We crossed the river and found a few - 
"Yes, those are dragons all right," said Pooh. 
"As soon as I saw their beaks I knew. 
That's what they are," said Pooh, said he. 
"That's what they are, said Pooh. 

 

"Let's frighten the dragons." I said to Pooh. 
"That's right," said Pooh to Me. 
"I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh, 
And I held his paw and I shouted , "Shoo! 
Silly old dragons!" - and off they flew. 
"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he, 
"I'm never afraid with you." 

 

So wherever I am, there's always Pooh, 
There's always Pooh and Me. 
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh, 
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said: "True, 
It isn't much fun for One, but Two 
Can stick together," says Pooh, says he. 
"That's how it is," says Pooh.

Then it was on to Pentecost, and the mystery of how to describe the Holy Spirit which was experienced as a rushing wind.  More childhood memories stirred, and another poem to share: -

No one can tell me, nobody knows

Where the wind comes from, where the wind goes

It’s flying from somewhere as fast as it can

I couldn’t keep up with it, not if I ran

But if I stopped holding the string of my kite

It would blow with the wind for a day and a night

And then when I found it, wherever it blew

I should know that the wind had been there too

And then I could tell you, where the wind goes

But where the wind comes from, nobody knows

 

I know there have been books on the Tao of Piglet and the Te of Pooh (or somesuch) but I hadn't ever quite anticipated quoting two A A Milne poems in a week.  Happy memories of bygone days and some light relief for my hearers!  I hope God likes A A Milne too!

(Both poems downloaded without any apparent copyright restrictions.) Apologies for formatting still need to learn how to use html