John and Theodor

Today is a marker for an important person’s passing on and important person’s birth.

2 March marks the anniversary of the death of John Wesley. We members of team United Methodist know Wesley as the founder of our church who has a fascinating personal story and left us with, in my opinion, the very best way to discuss and shape theological arguments --- the Wesley Quadrilateral. In this construct, one uses scripture, reason, experience, and tradition to understand an issue. It’s brilliant!

Known by more people is whose birthday we recognize today --- Dr. Seuss.
Now watch how I tie these two together --- while serving as a church pastor I made the comment that Dr. Seuss was one of the greatest theologians of the 20th Century. Asked to back it up, I did a series of study groups based on some of the Dr. Seuss classics which speak to virtues of compassion, peace, justice, stewardship, and inclusion.

For example, “Horton Hears a Who,” celebrates hearing the small, often unheard voices in our world and doing all one can to help others hear those voices and work to defend them.

“Yertle the Turtle,” justice for those at the bottom echoed in the proclamation of Mack the turtle who stated, “But down at the bottom we too should have rights.”

“The Butter Battle Book” a call for sanity and peace written in the days of nuclear weapons buildup.

“The Lorax,” is a plea for us to be good stewards and caretakers of our natural resources.

Have you noticed the timeless quality of the themes that are central to the Dr. Seuss books? Perhaps that is why so many of us still have those books from our childhood and why we buy them for the children in our lives and why they never go out of style.

Sometime today, pick up your favorite Dr. Seuss book and read it. To truly appreciate the genius of the writing and the rhythm you have to read it out loud. The Dr. Seuss books are the best kind of learning tools because they are both fun and educational.

Read and reflect on a Seuss book today --- O, the places you’ll go…..

sj;