Some Days Are Parables

Recently I read a book review written by Richard Rohr. It was such a wonderful review, I bought the book. I may give it as a Christmas gift.

The book is a children's story.  The beauty of most children's stories is that they can include lessons for everyone, not just children.

I was thinking about the book's lesson when the Ferguson verdict was rendered.  I was thinking about this message as I read one liners on Facebook, saw memes, read blogposts and news articles, and listened to radio and T.V.

The book is Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. It was written by Douglas Wood. It is a story of how the world can became fragmented and what is needed to make it whole.

In the story, a truth falls from the sky.  As it falls, the truth breaks in two. Once piece falls to earth and the other shoots off into the sky.

A man finds the part of the truth that fell to earth.  The piece had the words "You are loved" carved into it.  The man shared it with his tribe. There was much happiness. It felt great for them to believe they held "The Truth."

Then came the problem. The people who held the truth started to fear those who did not. Those who were feared desired the truth. So wars were waged. There was fighting over who possessed The Truth. No one was able to see that what was held and what was desired was a half truth.

In the story, a little girl was very troubled by the unrest and violence. She went on a long journey in order to talk to Old Turtle.

Old Turtle was wise. He knew that "You are loved," as great as that may be, could not stand alone.  So, Old Turtle and the little girl went together to search for what was missing.

They found the missing half and the girl brought it back to her people. The people had a hard time listening. From their perspective, they knew The Truth and The Truth was not to be challenged.

Finally, the two broken pieces are joined. The people could now see the full truth. They began to understand what they had been missing....

You are loved / and so are they.

And the earth began to heal.

From The Oreganian, 11/28/14
In this photo shot by freelance photographer Johnny Nguyen, Sgt. Bret Barnum (left) hugs 12-year-old Devonte Hart during the Ferguson rally in Portland on Nov. 25, 2014. According to Sgt. Barnum, the moment took place at the beginning of the rally while speakers were addressing the crowd. He noticed a young man with tears in his eyes holding a "Free Hugs" sign among a group of people. Sgt. Barnum motioned him over and they started talking about the demonstration, life, school, and art. As the conversation ended, Sgt. Barnum pointed to his sign and asked, "Do I get one of those?" The moment following that was captured in the powerful photo above, which shows the young man tearing up again during the embrace. After the exchange, the young man rejoined his friends and Sgt. Barnum went back about his duties. Johnny Nguyen/Special to the Oregonian