It is that most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas. No, not autumn. No, not the beginning of summer holiday (although in the past I have referred to each of those as the “most wonderful time of the year”). It is strawberry season. It is time to enjoy those plump, red, juicy berries-from-heaven. They are best fresh, and God only gives us to them once a year, so gorging ourselves on them is a perfectly legitimate pastime right now. Hello, canker sores.
Driving past all the U-Pick fields brings to mind John Lennon’s famous song, “Strawberry Fields.” Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with the fields where strawberries grow. As a child, Lennon often played in the garden of an orphanage for girls run by the Salvation Army. The home was called “Strawberry Field.” The location became a place of respite for the young Lennon. The lyrics of the song reflect the freedom and escape he felt when he was there.
When you are on a road trip, his song is a fun, cheery kind of tune that is easy to sing along. But if you pause to reflect on the lyrics, there is an underlying heaviness. A line repeated throughout the lyrics is, “Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.” That is very un-strawberry. Strawberries are very real. Strawberries are something to get excited about. They come only once a year (if you want them to be locally sourced). Strawberries are all sunshine and joy in a fruit. They are happiness dressed in red.
Lennon’s gloomy commentary is not unique to him. Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote something similar: “Futility of futilities,” he said. “Everything is futile.” Let’s remember that Solomon wrote that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; Lennon wrote “nothing is real” under the influence of LSD (or, so it is commonly suggested). Neither statement is optimistic. Both statements seem real. We can identify with them and that is why Lennon’s song continues to be so popular. While it doesn’t offer hope, it is an accurate reflection of our common struggle. How do we answer the question, “What is real?”
Is this not at the core of the human dilemma? Do we not crave that which is significant only to be offered that which is superficial? Are we not often reassured that, “This is what you are searching for?” only to discover “it” is yet another disappointment in a long series of “next-great-thing-that-isn’t?” Solomon had an observation about this, too:
The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
(Ecc 1:5-8 ESV)
In other words, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Life seems to be the same-old, same-old all over again. Can the cycle be broken? Is there something bigger upon which we can focus?
Solomon thinks so. Apparently, there are things which are real and have permanence: “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him” (Ecc 3:14 ESV). What GOD does lasts forever . . . so we will fear Him. Does God not grow the strawberries? Cause the sun to rise and set? Give us breath in our lungs and rain on our fields? Indeed, He does.
The difference between Solomon and Lennon’s observations is simply this: while they both acknowledge the frustrations and futilities of life, Solomon also accepted that God’s hand was in it all, even though (especially when?) life didn’t make sense. Rather than causing him to deny God, the confusion and chaos triggered Solomon to find confidence in the reality that the Creator was at work, albeit in a hidden way.
He concludes his book with this advice, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them" . . . Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecc 12:1, 13-14 ESV).
How do we learn to fear God? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Strawberries are gifts from God. Enjoy them not as a fun fruit. They are evidence of God’s faithful provision, of His fingerprints of grace in the smallest details of life. Jesus reminded us that our Heavenly Father even cares about the birds which fall from the sky; how much more does He care for us?
We don’t have to be able to explain all the “whys” of life. We just need to remember the beauty of God’s grace forever found in the strawberry field.
