When Life Imitates...Oreos

  

You've probably heard the expression "life imitates art" or "art imitates life".  The idea apparently originated with Aristotle  who said that art was a reflection, a mirroring, or a copying (mimesis in Greek) of what we see around us.  Picture the easel upon which rests a canvas slathered with different colors of oil from the brush of an artist who is recreating an image of the magnificently beautiful green meadow dotted with flowers which is now the backdrop. He looks at the scene, then carefully makes his brush strokes to recreate what he sees.  Oscar Wilde came along later and said, no, if fact, life imitates art.  And the debate has gone on ever since.  I'm going to steer clear of the debate since we have plenty of issues which seem to further polarize our country.

What I want to talk to you about how sometimes, life imitates Oreos. Hang with me, I woke up the other night and the idea was in my head.  No, not the Oreo part, that image came later as a metaphor of sorts to help me wrap my brain around the idea that came to me in that morning darkness.  Yeah I know, I'm the one who had the dream about the talking cheeseburger too, so use your best judgment as you press forward.

Oreo cookies.  I'm pretty sure they are known universally in first world countries.  As if you need a reminder, these famed sweets consist of...well, lets let the company describe them:

"Oreo is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two cocoa biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet fondant filling." 

Sounds a lot fancier than I would have articulated it:  two chocolate cookies with a glob of greasy sweet white stuff that apparently has crack in it because they can be very addictive.  You know it! Who hasn't done a line of Oreos??  If you're reading this, thanks Kenny.

Then they started making and selling the Double Crack...I mean Double Stuff Oreos.  That's just wrong, especially for those like me who are in it mainly for the 'stuff'.

People have different methods when approaching Oreos.  Some just animalistically start biting the whole thing, sometimes one bite, sometimes two.  Others take a little classier approach by placing the right hand on the bottom wafer, then placing the left hand on the top wafer and giving a gentle twist, preferably with one pinky extended, leaving them with one naked wafer in one hand and another wafer with the white (now that we're being fancy) fondant on the other.  Now, the epicure (fancy word for one eating) has a moral dilemma.  Does one now scrape the white stuff off of the cocoa biscuit with ones teeth leaving two remaining naked cocoa biscuits to savor at the finish, or should one (clearly only for the sake of image) leave the white crack on one cookie finish with it after dutifully eating the naked cookie first (you know, for the pygmies in New Guinea who don't have naked chocolate wafers).  You can always just pitch the two naked wafers and go straight for the crack which is obviously the whole point of Oreos for me.  Where is the value in those chocolate cookies??

I don't know what all of that means for sure but now I need to go check the pantry - then the fridge for milk.

Ok, I'm back.   Ok, I'll bring this back to the life part.  Hopefully by now you're wondering if I actually did 'do crack' and what in the world all of that Oreo talk had to do with anything.  

Life, like Oreos, have three parts, at least for the sake of  this message.  There is a beginning, a middle, and an end.  I know, deep huh?  The thought that came to me in the early morning hours was: the most important people in your life are typically the ones who are there with you in the beginning and in the end but rarely who we think of in the middle.  

I had to think that through.  In the beginning you have parents and siblings, pastors, teachers and childhood friends, who are a major part of those who shape who you will become.  The mind, will and emotions are greatly shaped and molded with these influencers who probably know you as well as anyone in your life unless later you are married, which adds another who knows you better than all of the former folks.

In the middle, you are largely who you are and will be as a person.  Yes there is some tweaking that takes place, some adjusting, fine tuning, sometime failures and the pushing of the 'reset button' to move back to the center again, but largely you are operating from that former place.  Most grow and evolve with their career, developing the technical and people skills which will help us earn more and hopefully add value to others.  

I guess I'm at the age, being in the last half of my life that I'm thinking more about the end of it.  I know who was with me in the beginning.  Most of those individuals I will likely outlive; parents, teachers, and others. Perhaps my sibling and some childhood friends will still be around, hopefully my wife, kids and grandkids will be here, as well as a few close friends gathered along the way.  

Think about the beginning and the end as the chocolate cookie portion of the Oreo, and the middle...well, is the middle.  Generally speaking humans put a lot of value and importance on the middle portion of life.  I spent a lot of time in the beginning trying to hurry myself through childhood to my life of independence, and career, in other words to get to the middle.  The focus on advancement, success, higher income, and promotion permeates the middle.  Yes, that whole process can be as addictive as crack as well.  

Sometimes we need a reality check, however.  I read a statement not long ago which gave me a bit of a needed reminder which went something like, "If you want to know how much of an impact you made in your career and how much of a hole you'll leave in your company, remember this: The job you had will be posted on all the career search websites the day after you're gone."  The people at work who you spent so much time and energy trying to impress will say, "Man, we're really going to miss the Freakin' Genius. Sigh. (Pause) Where do you guys want to go to lunch??"  Ouch.

I'm not saying the middle isn't important. God gave us work as part of our bearing His image.  What I AM trying to say is that perhaps the cookies are more valuable than we think.  Maybe we need to start looking at life as a whole.  It's all valuable.  We shouldn't overemphasize the middle and downplay the beginning and the end. If we outlive our career, who is going to be there after we leave the job?  Did we ignore or outright alienate those who have made the biggest impact on our lives?  Have we neglected those who are closest to us? Have we thought about how we've touched the lives of those on whom we should have the biggest impact? 

 I like the way someone once described success:  "Success in life is when those closest to you love and respect you the most."   Sometimes it's easy as frail humans to neglect those closest to us.  Society doesn't seem to value the end as much as the middle.  How many people roll up and die when they retire from their jobs?  How many seem to lose their sense of worth and value when they no longer have a career - and some when they're finished raising children in the home?  Never forget that there are always those who look to you, who look up to you, who value you.  They will be the ones who are with you all the way to the end.

We need to live our lives fully from the beginning all the way to the end, just like I need to enjoy the whole Oreo.  

There is a song by Tim McGraw which seems to wrap this up nicely.  By the grace of God, live the entire life He gives you.  All in.  Full throttle.  Love like there is no tomorrow!

Standing Room Only - by Tim McGraw

Stop judging my life by my possessions

Start thinking 'bout how many headlights

Will be in my procession

I wanna live a life, live a life

Like a dollar and the clock on the wall don't own me

Shine a light, shine a light

Like mama's front porch when I'm lost and lonely

Start forgivin' and start forgettin'

Be somebody that's worth rememberin'

Live a life so when I die

There's standing room only, standing room only

FG