Acceptance – with Robin, Grizabella and David

Halfway down the stairs is the stair where I sit
There isn’t any other stair quite like it
I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top
So this is the stair where I always stop

Halfway up the stairs isn’t up and isn’t down
It isn’t in the nursery, it isn’t in the town
And all sorts of funny thoughts, they run through my head
It isn’t really anywhere, it’s somewhere else instead

I love this song! A.A. Milne (of Winnie the Pooh fame) wrote the poem… set to music… sung on The Muppets by Robin, Kermit’s cousin.

Robin’s on his own, reflecting on life; it’s a song of self-acceptance… accepting his unspectacular individualism.

Musing… identifying with Robin… accepting my unspectacular self.

Last night we went to Snape to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ‘Cats’. It was excellent. 44 young people from Co-op Juniors sung, danced and acted with skill, energy and enthusiasm.

The most famous ‘Cats’ song is ‘Memory’:

Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can dream of the old days
Life was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

It’s sung by the cat-character Grizabella. Once a glamourous cat, now she’s older and fallen on hard times. She struggles to be accepted. For most of the show she’s outcast, ostracised and alone.

The song’s a recollection of her glamorous past and a plea for acceptance… With the support and encouragement another cat, Jemima, she’s finally accepted by the other cats.

Musing… Grizabella… my changing circumstances… acceptance by others… acceptance of others.  

Musing… walking by the sea this morning… remembering King David… Psalm 19… considering his God’s greatness: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands…’

David concludes Psalm 19 concerned for acceptance by his God: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.