Crazy title, right? But it comes from an interesting Guyanese proverb. "Only the knife knows what's inside the pumpkin's belly." Think about it and one will realize that it has so many life applications.
One goes thru life living on the surface, for the most part. We take things as they seem to appear and do not generally look too deeply into anything. Why challenge fate? Why spoil a good thing? So we never cut deeply into life and sometimes, many times, will not realize truly what life is all about or what the real deal is. If it is pretty enough, with nice color, who needs to know what is truly inside - rot or good?
A family goes to sleep and wakes up shattered and shattering. A little girl finds her life is ended by the one who is supposed to protect that very life. And the good life that seems so great, so smooth, suddenly has dark undertones, ones that should long ago have been eliminated instead of suddenly flourishing again in the ugly minds of some ugly people. And what do we do? Nothing, for we are so immured in the importance of being PC that we shut our mouths and close our minds.
Beautiful, is it not, when a grandson receives all these acceptances from colleges along with varied offers of scholarships. But ugly, is it not, when he goes to visit them with his parents and one of the questions that must be asked now, in 2015, 70 years after the end of the Holocaust, when it is now once again PC, trendy even, to hate the Jews, now, today, his parents must ask, "Is it safe for him to walk thru campus with his kippah (yarmulke or head covering) on his head?"
What is inside the belly of the pumpkin when a President of the USA goes into a snit because he thinks he has not received the proper obeisance from the Prime Minister of an ally, a contentious, feisty ally, but the only true one in a war and hate blasted area of the world? Do we allow one who is struggling to keep his head above the water due to his lack of experience in world affairs, of a mouth that sometimes is perilously close to the shoot from the hip statements of Bush, or perhaps even due to the fact that for years his religious leader was an open and avowed anti- Semite? Do we allow his disastrous tantrums to draw the world deeper into the rotten belly of the pumpkin?
What is inside that pumpkin's brother pumpkin when the motives of those who are supposed to lead us with altruism, with honesty, with understanding, with compassion, with foresight, with an unselfish desire to serve the community - when those very same motives are twisted and the seeds of the pumpkin are black with rot and the whole thing smells to the high heavens? What do we do then?
Too many people justify their actions, pump themselves up with this statement.
"Deus nobiscum. Quis contra?"
Translation: G-d is with us, who can be against us?
I believe that too many times the name of G-d has been usurped by the rotten seeds inside that pumpkin and unfortunately, those seeds have been able to convince others that no, that rotten smell is not coming from them, but from elsewhere. Just follow along their designated paths and all will be well.
I know this is a bit dark and really not representative of how I like to look at life, but today the rotten seeds inside that pumpkin's belly seem to be overwhelmingly in the majority. We need to apply that truth seeking "knife" more often, cut deeply into the motives, statements and behavior of those in whom we have placed our trust. Yes, hopefully, prayerfully, G-d is with us, but remember the other saying - "G-d helps those who help themselves." Let us help each other to make a better world, a safer and kinder, softer world, where there are no more rotten pumpkins hiding under a lovely exterior. Let us apply that deeper cut, that deeper look into all aspects of our lives and then scoop out the rotten and fix and replant. That is our only option, truly, if you think about it.
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