From the Chaplains

If life gives you lemons, should you make lemonade?

Hello, and welcome to another adventure-packed term at Pymble. It has been so wonderful for both Rev. Cass and myself to see all of you back and to meet so many lovely new friends. As someone who likes to sometimes stand back and simply watch from the sideline, I have really enjoyed seeing the students and staff greet each other with such a lot of joy after the holidays apart.

During our Boarders’ Chapel over the next little while we will use some of our evenings to explore some common ‘truisms’ – those short phrases that we say to each other to reinforce an event or to explain something. This week, we looked at one of my favourites ‘If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’

What do you think?

When we look back in history we discover that this saying was first popularized by Christian anarchist Elbert Hubbard in 1909. He said,

“A genius is a man who takes the lemons that fate hands him and starts a lemonade-stand with them.”’

It evolved into it’s more modern for in 1940 as part of a poem call The Optimist by Dale Carnigie. The poem was as follows,

“Life handed him a lemon,
As Life sometimes will do.
His friends looked on in pity,
Assuming he was through.
They came upon him later,
Reclining in the shade
In calm contentment, drinking
A glass of lemonade.”

From here the lemon seems to have become associated with bad things and bad things in general.

But is this fair? Let me did a little deeper.

If we look at the science, we discover that ‘life’ didn’t give us lemons. People did. They are a hybrid fruit, developed over many years of agriculture.

If we look at the science, we discover that ‘life’ didn’t give us lemons. People did. They are a hybrid fruit, developed over many years of agriculture.

Though somewhat bitter, they are overwhelmingly good for us. They are the first thing that many of us turn to as a cure for a cold and have multiple uses as an effective cleaning product. They are refreshing and cool when added to cold water.

When it comes to the scripture, there are no lemons. They were possibly not yet invented. But there were situations that could be describes as ‘lemons.’

In Job, after the protagonist losses everything. Instead of ‘Making Lemonade,’ he makes a deliberate decision to sit in his devastation.

‘Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it or light shine on it. Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.’ Job 3.4-5

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11-32), the son decides he does not like the future that fate has given him and takes his fortune to ‘Make Lemonade.’ Sadly, the hoped for ‘lemonade’ turns out to be a very bitter ‘lemon’ when he finds himself homeless and without money. So, he returns to his family expecting to find an angry father. As he walks down the road his father runs towards him and draws him into an enormous hug as he says ‘let us eat and celebrate,  for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’

Ecclesiastes seems to tell us that life, not us, gives both lemons and lemonade,

‘For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh’ Ecclesiastes 3.1-4

So what can I conclude from all of this? I have come up with three things

• Be CURIOUS when confronted with something that feels bitter or bad. Lemons are not the enemy. It is possible that the lemon itself is an opportunity. Make sure that you look at all angles of the seemingly bad situation in front of you before coming to a conclusion
• It is OK to feel sorry for yourself. Bad stuff does happen, and it is ok to feel horrible, even angry, and as long as we don’t sit there for too long.

Lemonade is made up of lemons, lots of crystal of sugar and water to dilute it.

When you are feeling bad, the most effective way to start to feel better is to surround yourselves with many crystals of love that your friends and family want to give you, and to give yourself time that will slowly dilute the sadness.

Danielle Hemsworth-Smith

College Chaplain