Fiddlers, Ambassadors and Ugly Dogs

On Thursday we saw ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Set in a poor Jewish community in rural Russia in 1905, the central character, Tevye, explains:

‘…here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn’t easy. You may ask ‘Why do we stay up there if it’s so dangerous?’ Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!

Am I a fiddler trying to get a tune out of life, whilst balancing precariously on a roof?

We’ve known Sue since she was a young girl. About ten years ago she started enjoying weekend breaks at our local ‘Potters’ resort… loving it so much that she wanted to work there. Two years ago she joined the bar staff.

Sue always speaks about her work with joy and enthusiasm. Yesterday she was excited about her new job.

The Potters magazine announces: Sue’s natural warmth, her passion for Potters, and her ability to connect with guests made her the obvious choice for a new role when the opportunity of Friends Ambassador came up.   

Am a warm, passionate ambassador for those people and causes that I hold dear to me… for my church, for my faith?

This morning I was walking along the sea front, past a car park where cheerfully a smiley man was getting his dogs out of his car for their morning walk. An energetic spaniel jumped out onto the grass. I liked him… I wouldn’t mind having a dog like that. He was followed by an ugly-looking mutt that really didn’t want to walk. It reminded me why we don’t have a dog.

Smiley man was trying to encourage Mutt. ‘Come on, Malcolm,’ he said patiently. I smiled.

Perhaps I’m just an unwilling, ugly mutt. My patient Master, encourages me to walk with him, saying, ‘Come on, Malcolm.’