Chapel Talk Archive #2 – Mr Terry, Lent 2014

Lifestyle School Mr Hodson November 16, 2016 0 Comments

I thought today that I would start with a story, so if you are sitting comfortably I will begin:

Once upon a time in a far-off country there was a little girl who was called Goldilocks, because her curly hair shone brightly. She was a sad romp, and so restless that she could not be kept quiet at home, but constantly ran out and away, without leave.

One day she started off into a wood to gather wild flowers, and into the fields to chase butterflies. She ran here and she ran there, and went so far, that at last she found herself in a lonely place, where she saw a snug little house, in which three bears lived; but they were not at home.

The door was ajar, and Goldilocks pushed it open and found the place to be quite empty, so she made up her mind to go in, and look all about the place, little thinking what sort of people lived there.

Now the three bears had gone out to walk a little before this. They were Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear, and Little Baby Bear; they had left the porridge they had cooked on the table to cool.

When Goldilocks came into the kitchen, she saw the three bowls of porridge. She tasted the largest bowl, which belonged to Daddy Bear, and found it too cold; then she tasted the middle-sized bowl, which belonged to Mummy Bear, and found it too hot; then she tasted the smallest bowl, which belonged to Little Baby Bear, and it was just right, and she ate it all up.

She went into the parlour, and there were three chairs. She tried the biggest chair, which belonged to Daddy Bear, and found it too high; then she tried the middle-sized chair, which belonged to Mummy Bear, and she found it too broad; then she tried the little chair, which belonged to Little Baby Bear, and found it just right, but she sat in it so hard that she broke it.

Now Goldilocks was by this time very tired, and she went upstairs to the bedroom, and there she found three beds. She tried the largest bed, which belonged to Daddy Bear, and found it too soft; then she tried the middle-sized bed, which belonged to Mummy Bear, and she found it too hard; then she tried the smallest bed, which belonged to Little Baby Bear, and found it just right, so she lay down upon it, and fell fast asleep.

While Goldilocks was lying fast asleep, the three bears came home from their walk. They came into the kitchen, to get their porridge, but when the Daddy Bear went to his, he growled out:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN EATING MY PORRIDGE!”

and the Mummy Bear looked into his bowl, and said:

“Somebody Has Been eating My Porridge!”

and the Little Bear piped:

“Somebody has been eating my porridge and they have eaten it all up!”

Then they went into the parlour, and the Daddy Bear growled:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!”

and the Mummy Bear said:

“Somebody Has Been Sitting In My Chair!”

and the Little Bear piped:

“Somebody has been sitting in my chair, and has broken it all to pieces!”

So they went upstairs into the bedroom, and the Daddy Bear growled:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED!”

and the Mummy Bear said:

“Somebody Has Been sleeping in My Bed!”

and the little Bear piped:

“Somebody has been sleeping in my bed, and here she is!”

At that, Goldilocks woke in a fright and jumped out of bed. Daddy bear raised his giant paw and struck down at Goldilocks with a ferocious blow, killing her with one slash of his razor sharp claws. The three bears forgot all about porridge and instead they ate Goldilocks for breakfast, very delicious and much more filling than porridge. The three bears lived happily ever after.

That probably wasn’t the ending you were quite expecting but is in fact much nearer to the original ending than that you are perhaps used to. That is because before Goldilocks and the three bears got toned down it was a cautionary tale for children against the evils of greed, selfishness, theft and trespassing.

So is this original ending the right ending, is it not right that Goldilocks paid the price for her poor behaviour? We all have to face up to the consequences of our actions after all, but perhaps it is a little harsh. Goldilocks is young, young people make mistakes; it would have perhaps been nice if Goldilocks had lived to learn from her mistakes.

SO…..let us look at another ending, the one that you are more used to:

So they went upstairs into the bedroom, and the Daddy Bear growled:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED!”

and the Mummy Bear said:

“Somebody Has Been sleeping in My Bed!”

and the little Bear piped:

“Somebody has been sleeping in my bed, and here she is!”

At that, Goldilocks woke in a fright, she jumped out of the window and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her, and never went near the Three Bears’ snug little house again.

So is this a better ending, Goldilocks doesn’t die at the hands of an 9ft grizzly bear so it is good for her, but it isn’t exactly a great message to send to young children. Goldilocks acts appallingly, gets up, and runs away from her actions, scot-free without having to atone for her mistakes. What did she learn, nothing but the fact that she can do what she likes and then run away from her bad behaviour without consequences. Rather unsatisfactory as well I feel!

What should the ending be,

perhaps this…………..

So they went upstairs into the bedroom, and the Daddy Bear growled:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED!”

and the Mummy Bear said:

“Somebody Has Been sleeping in My Bed!”

and the little Bear piped:

“Somebody has been sleeping in my bed, and here she is!”

At that, Goldilocks woke in a fright and jumped out of bed. At once she could see from the look of disappointment in the bears’ faces that she had behaved very badly. She knew at once what she should do and pleaded with the bears for forgiveness and to let her make amends. She ran down stairs and cooked the bears a lovely big breakfast of porridge and wild berries that she collected from the wood. She placed a bunch of wild flowers on a vase on the kitchen table and busied herself tiding the house and making the crumpled beds. She also got to work and mended baby bear’s poor broken chair. She didn’t do a great job but the three bears saw that she really tried. Goldilocks worked very hard and by the time she had finished the 3 bears had completely forgiven her because they could see that she understood her mistakes, knew they were wrong and had tried to make things right. Goldilocks and the three bears became great friends and Goldilocks often visited their snug little house in the woods – they all lived happily ever after.

So what is my point, RHS is a close and caring community. We understand that you are going to make mistakes, you are young it is your job to do so. It is not the mistakes that matter it is the way that you address those mistakes that is key. Mistakes are going to happen but if you can genuinely acknowledge your mistakes, seek to understand why your mistake was wrong and look to make amends then that is the most important thing and if you can do that tomorrow is another day!

Let us join together in the words of the benediction: