Star-Bellied Sneetch?
One of the greatest authors of American literature once wrote: “Don't give up! I believe in you all. A person's a person, no matter how small! And you very small persons will not have to die. If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY!” Suess, Dr. Horton Hears a Who!. Random House, 1954.
Yes, it was Dr. Suess’ birthday this week. Yes, there was a bit of drama this week about some of the illustrations in his books. Regardless of what was drawn or printed, as a legend of a children’s book author, it’s easy to agree that we have all been inspired at one point or another by the creative prose he linked together.
Has there ever been a time that the poignant imprints Dr. Suess wished to pass on could be more fitting? Think about it. How many of you have seen social media memes this week quoting the same line I opened this post with? Many have taken that phrase showcasing the simple illustration of how a prolife stance looks. Aren’t little people people too? Or what about the Lorax? “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” Suess, Dr. The Lorax. Random House, 1971. How many things are going to stay Jesus centered if we don’t lift a finger to spread his good news? Are we going to work at keeping Jesus in our culture?
From learning how to read to nighttime stories before bed, we have all seen the books by Dr. Suess. I might ask, which Dr. Suess book meant the most to you? The Lorax? The Grinch?
As a kid, my dad had read the Sneetches to us so many times I could recite it myself.
“Off again! On Again! In again! Out again!
Through the machines they raced round and about again,
Changing their stars every minute or two.
They kept paying money. They kept running through
Until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew
Whether this one was that one…or that one was this one
Or which one was what one …or what one was who.” Suess, Dr. The Sneetches. Random House, 1953.
I’m sure that The Sneetches could be interpreted a variety of ways, but to me, a creative soul roaming on the beaches of a left-brained world, it was clear. More than any of the messages that were passed from Whoville to my own young mind, this one meant the most. It still is etched in me today.
(Yes, that's me).
I’ll admit it. I’ve struggled with self-esteem at times in my life. I wasn’t like everybody else as a child. I think it was the creative thread that God ran through me, or possibly that I was made out of slightly different material. When most people around me fired off the left and logical side of their brain, mine only fired right. I saw things different. I appreciated things different. I could pull colors from the nature and scenery around me that others didn’t see. When everybody else was focused on tangible things, my imagination and creativity swirled me into another place.
I loved to draw. . . I did it all the time. Paint? It was almost a requirement for me. I loved to research. . . yes, I was that kid who enjoyed going to the library. My imagination met books of ancient Egypt or UFO’s right in the setting they were written. In high school I would quickly eat my meal so as to leave the lunchroom and head up to do more art. I was allowed to get extra instruction in the art room. My projects were worth more to me than food and social hour. In college it continued. I basically lived in the art building. My spare time was spent hanging out there, getting new ideas, working on the Jesus paintings you can find on this website, or simply soaking up the atmosphere of a creative space.
But what does a person like that feel like in the general public? I searched the web. Creativity is a trait with higher statistical significance in the United States than other parts of the world. Most sources could be arguable, I suppose, but from what I found, creativity worldwide it is not very high. Speaking globally, with real numbers involved, creative people a microscopic community.
When I grew up, the world was focused on the day-to-day challenges and the daily routine. You woke up. You went to school. You did your math. You played football at recess. You got home and did your chores. Supper. And then you did it all over again. Things were systematic. Things were logical. Things made sense.
But did I?
What Dr. Suess did was brilliant.
With illustrations depicting building structures that made no sense at all to an engineer’s point of view to exotic animals and people with no rules of taxonomy, Dr. Suess challenged young minds to think outside the box. Reality changed. Creativity flowed. For a short moment, everything made sense, was permissible, and was allowed.
So let me ask you: Did you feel at times like a Sneetch who was caught being like everybody else?
Did you fit in as a child?
It saddens me that man, created in the image of the Creator God, doesn’t always have the freedom to be creative as well.
So in honor of Dr. Suess this week, I want to address those who don’t feel like they quite fit in.
Do you look around and see stars on everybody’s belly but yours? Maybe you aren’t creative, but something about you makes you different from everybody else. Do you feel like the way God made you sets you apart and out of the loop of normal society?
Psalms 139:1-18
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
The Lord created us just as he pleased. There is a perfection to the Lord’s craftsmanship that we don’t understand, sometimes don’t even appreciate. The trouble comes when we know the Lord has made us the way we are, but the rest of the world doesn’t appreciate what the Lord has done. Nearly all of us have felt that at one time or another in our lives. Even the most popular and socially accepted guys and girls in school would admit that deep down, they felt out of place in the world at one point or another. We all do. We are human.
Does the world’s opinion of us matter? What do we do when we don’t fit in?
One of the greatest consolations I can have when things don’t look the way I figure they should, is to know that Jesus can identify with me. I feel that if Jesus felt the same way, I must be in good company. I look to the scriptures and see what Jesus dealt with. Did the world accept him? Did the religious leaders of the time take him under their wing and show him respect? Was Jesus appreciated in the temple when he taught?
In contrast, they wanted to push Jesus off a cliff, kill him ten times before they actually succeeded, and even hush the spread of his teachings after he ascended into heaven.
Jesus, who knows exactly what not fitting in feels like, one day sat pained inside, expressing his sorrows for the world who didn’t accept him.
He, felt sorry for them.
Luke 6:24-26
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
Jesus knew enough to realize that if the world was accepting the false prophets, he didn’t need their acceptance. Why would he want that kind of backing? In reality, it would discredit his own integrity if they did!
He stood on who he was, who he was meant to be, his passion and purpose, his relationship with the Father, and his love for those he would save.
Somehow, I think that is sufficient.
Jesus didn’t need a star on his belly.
My wife has written a book that shows a similar message. She is extremely passionate about her creativity, desiring to write children’s books that teach messages we so often struggle with in life. Her debut book Wacky Jacky is about just such a character, one who is beautifully created though the world doesn’t accept her. In the style and philosophy of the great writer J. R. R. Tolkien, she broadened her audience and crafted a Christian message into something that all kids will read, latch on to, and hopefully see what Jesus desires us to be like. I’m very proud of her for all the hard work she is putting into finalizing the last touches.
Both ebook and paperback will be available in the very near future. You can find more information at her facebook page: Faerie Grace Inspirational Speaker and Author. Or here is a direct link to the ebook: Amazon Link.
Dr. Suess may have had it right all along. It doesn’t matter if the world accepts you. Stay true to yourself and shine bright, regardless of whether there is a star on your belly or not.
So for all those who shot out of the world’s star machine wondering if stars were still in fashion or out, let’s not get caught up in racing through it any longer.
Be who you are.
Be who God made you.
Stars or no stars.
By Chuck Carr
All illustrations from The Sneetches are property of Dr. Suess, Random House.