“Fork Handles”
“ I’m not suggesting that there is the equivalent of a cosmic hardware shopkeeper relying on the accuracy of our requests otherwise we won’t get what we want, but maybe there IS something in this”
So, firstly, I haven’t seen The Two Ronnies sketch “Fork Handles” for years, but I remember thinking it was really funny when I was a kid. Probably helped by my love of words and the playfulness of words as used in this sketch to provide ambiguity which is the basis of the comedy. If you’ve never seen it, it begins with a guy going into a hardware store and asking for what sounds like 4 candles and when the shop keeper brings them out, he says no “Fork ‘andles,” clarifying he wants handles from a fork, and so it continues with lots of other requests which are misconstrued out of context – genius.
Similarly, I also remember a comedian quoting a woman who came into a shop and asked for 32 inch nails, and eventually realising her husband wanted her to buy 30 x two inch nails.
“The principle of asking for something and that being misunderstood or miscommunicated leads me to think about clarification in what we’re asking for.”
I’m not suggesting that there is the equivalent of a cosmic hardware shopkeeper relying on the accuracy of our requests otherwise we won’t get what we want, but maybe there IS something in this. Namely, the importance of being SPECIFIC in what we ask for. I have heard this suggested before. BE SPECIFIC. The more specific we are, the more likely we re to see a return on our requests whether you call that prayer or manifestation or anything else. The more vague the request, the less likely we are to receive whatever it is, so let’s get very specific and creative, because we DO create with our imaginations.
The second theme which struck me this morning was how we can allow ourselves to hold back from pursuing our dreams because of fear of lack of money. I dipped into the book “Be The Change” before I climbed into bed last and ‘happened’ to come across Satish Kumar’s contribution. The strapline underneath his chapter reads:
“The root of war is fear and route to peace is trust”
Amongst other things, Satish was the Director of Programmes at Schumacher College, which ran courses for adults covering ecological and spiritual issues and holistic science. For 35 years, he was the editor of Resurgence magazine, which focussed on similar topics (maybe he still does, I must check).
Anyway, he embarked on a walk for peace when he was 25 years old, walking to Moscow, Paris, London and Washing DC – the 4 nuclear capitals at that time – to demonstrate for peace by demonstrating peace, without a penny in his pockets. He and his friend took no money with them because their guru, Vinoba, who was also a follower of Gandhi said,
“I bless you for your journey but I want to give you advice: Go without any money in your pockets”. Satish asked, “Any money? You mean nothing? Sometimes we might need a cup of tea…to make a phone call,” but they decided to take Vinoba’s advice ultimately because the root of war is fear and the route of peace is trust. If you have no money, you have to trust yourself, other people, God, the universe.”
So, this leads me to the question:
Having discovered what is on our hearts, why we’re here, are we holding back out of fear of lack of funds? Fear of lack is different from actually finding ourselves IN that position.
A verse from the Bible comes to mind:
“Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.” Psalm 37:25 New International Version.
So,
1) Let’s be SPECIFIC about what we ask for, and
2) Let’s go for it, fearlessly trusting that we’ll receive everything we need.
Oh, and a further nod to the Ronnie Barker sketch, let’s have a lot of fun along the way.