Fr Vincent Stapleton pens a letter to Humpty Dumpty

Most Illustrious Humpty Dumpt

Dear Humpty Dumpty, friend of my childhood, just a little note to check in with you and see how you are doing after your fall. I hope you are well on the way to recovery.

We go back a long way. When I was a boy, my parents and my teachers told me about you. Don’t you go climbing on walls and roofs, they said wagging their fingers, or the same thing will happen to you as happened poor humpty dumpty.
Lately, I was reading a book and your name came up – the writer said that humpty dumpty was actually the name of a large cannon that used to sit on the walls of Colchester in England. He said that Humpty Dumpty specialized in lobbing cannon balls at enemies approaching the town.

In this version of the story it was these same enemies who brought Humpty Dumpty to a crashing fall. That is not the story that I learned in school. We learned, Humpty, that you are an egg and not a bad egg either. It is no wonder that you broke into pieces after falling off the wall.

Fr Vincent Stapleton

I always thought it was a bad idea to put an egg high up on an uneven surface; even worse to entrust your recovery to all the Kings horses. What you needed was a hospital and qualified nurses and doctors. How could the horses put you back together when they don’t even have fingers?

In any case, I didn’t pick up my pen to fry your head with bad memories. I just wanted to give you some encouragement for your recovery. The last time we spoke, you were feeling pretty bad about yourself. You told me that your beautiful, smooth, shiny shell was now all cracked and glued together … that you looked terrible and felt even worse. I’d like to console you.

The best part of every egg is on the inside, and every human being too. We often forget that. So much effort nowadays goes into external appearance – hairdo’s, make-up, tanning, muscles, six-packs and fashions. There is nothing wrong with any of these things. Everything in moderation, except moderation, as my mother often says. But, the simple fact of the matter is that external appearance doesn’t last, while the contours that we give to our soul in this life can last into eternity. Each of us ought to give at least as much thought to our souls and the effort of making the soul beautiful, as we invest in our bodies.

As you know, Humpty, I have my own cracks to deal with. In fact, we’re all a little cracked. Leonard Cohen once sang so powerfully – “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

Jesus deliberately sought out the people around him who were broken, in body or spirit, because they were humble and more open to receiving God’s light and love. Rather than chasing after the phantom of perfection, may each of us be content to make our lives a sincere offering to God, cracks and all.

So don’t be too down in yourself, Humpty, after all I really think you are some yoke!

Every blessing.
Fr. Vinny