In mid-July I attended the play As You Like It in Stratford with a friend. It was a generous gift.

In readiness for the Shakespearean way of speaking, I acquired a Kindle copy of the play and read as much of it beforehand as I could. On that reading, I came across the famous quote by Shakespeare, spoken by the character Orlando.

All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances. And one man in his time plays many parts.

from program cover

Actors play a part that’s not really themselves, even though they put themselves into it wholeheartedly. Beside that life as actor, they’re also sisters, brothers, son or daughter. Perhaps parents as well.

Actors can go back and make the next play better, and the next audience wouldn’t know the bloopers of a previous production. Much as a writer or musician improves over time.

But life is different, isn’t it?

We all have roles to play in our life. First, as a child, then teen, and later adult. In any of those phases, we assume certain roles and perhaps fulfill expectations. We may be parents, sisters, brothers, mother, father, friend, co- worker, advisor, and so much more.

Life isn’t an stage, though we might compare it, and we have but one life. Birth, our entrance, and, death, our exit, at least from our current life. And a whole lot happens between.

Recently a young camper asked me, on the ride home, if there was a time in my life I want to go back to. I don’t know what prompted her to ask that question, whether it came from the camp leaders, or her own curiosity.

We get to choose, to follow God or not. Hard as we try to do the right thing, our ambitious self does not always follow that lead. We can ask for help to change. Over and over again.

Jesus gives us that opportunity, not for a do-over, but forgiveness to pick up where we left off, go on, and keep trying to do better. He said to love one another and love our neighbours as ourselves. And he’d really love it if we have him along as our guide.

Looking our for us