God loves stories

Terry and I were in Rocca’s Market the other day and Tom, co-owner, was at the checkstand. I told him that I had spoken to his brother, co-owner Dan, about the loss of Poppy their fishmonger and was wondering if that wold affect the quality of their fish supply. Dan had told me that there was no change: the fish was coming from the same distributor, it was just that it was being delivered rather than Poppy going up to San Francisco and picking it up.

I told Tom that to listen to Poppy, he was up at the wharf waiting on the dock for the fishing boats to come in and buying directly from the fishermen. Tom smiled and nodded in agreement. “He is a character. God loves characters,” Tom said. Then he added, “How does it go? God created people because he loves stories.”

That is indeed how it goes. It is, in fact, an old Hasidic saying: “God created humankind because he loves stories.”

If that is the criterion, God no doubt really appreciates Poppy.

That is as it should be.