Humpty was indignant. His cheeks flushed. He couldn't hide his offended dignity. He was very much put out. All I had done was to ask him whether he had ever come across Jack Sprat. 'Jack Sprat!' he expostulated. 'Jack Sprat was not a real person. And since you're asking impertinent questions, let me make it clear that I have never come across Jack Horner, Miss Muffet or Boy Blue. They live in a different world from me.'
So that was that. I consoled myself that you win some, you lose some. You can't back winners all the time. But then I got to thinking that there is a lot of truth in nursery rhymes. They convey truths about adult society in a digestible way.
Jack Sprat, for example, had quite different tastes from his wife. And we have all seen examples of lifelong partnerships that have involved two people with far from matching characteristics. Even when those characteristics have involved differing religious beliefs, or greater or lesser dedication to athletic achievement, say, we have seen such partnerships prosper. There may be difficulties in encouraging children's aspirations but there need be none of the corrosive effects of imposing a parent's failed ambition on the next generation.
Jack Horner was an opportunist. We are told he suspected there was something in the pie more important than soft fruit. He followed his hunch and ended up with valuable title deeds. Perhaps he reminds us of the quick-witted but dodgy steward in Luke 16. Jesus praised him not for his defalcation but for his astuteness. We find the comment: 'For in dealing with their own kind the children of this world are more astute than the children of light.' In other words a follower of Jesus has no more right to be naive, gullible and easily duped than anybody else.
And then there was Miss Muffet. She was scared of spiders. Nowadays that has a posh name: arachnophobia. It makes us think about our attitude to the less cosy denizens of the natural world, snakes, toads and lizards. They deserve as much respect as the more cuddly animals on our planet. Perhaps there is some hint here, too, of our attitude to humans we don't like all that much.
I didn't realise I had been thinking aloud. Humpty had quietened down. I must have had some effect on him. I had indeed. But then I heard his snores. You win some, you lose some.
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