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Aloha and Good Morning, It’s a shock to realize I haven’t written anything in such a long,
long time. Much has changed in my life since that last Morning Moment. I’ve
gained a beautiful, sustaining relationship, a new direction in life and
endured the existential dark night of the soul. I’ve shared nearly magical,
transformative moments of oneness with some of my massage clients and been
wracked with self-doubt. So life goes: I’ve been caught between the egoic
voices in my head and the wonderful whisperings of the divine, between
feelings of inadequacy and a new unfolding perspective. For over a year, the
voices telling me that “who
am I to presume to wisdom, how arrogant, nobody wants to hear your senseless
ramblings, what will people think after so long, they’ll reject you and
you’ll be hurt and embarrassed,” held me to silence. I’m grateful to one of my readers, who after
all this time thought to write and tell me that she misses the Morning Moment
and ask where have I gone? Her email created space for a new thought: “Maybe
I can write again.” Thank you Emilia, this Moment is dedicated to you. The story is told
of a certain frog who sat longingly on a river bank. Gazing at the far side,
the frog sighed, “More than anything, I wish I could live over there where
the flies are fatter and tastier and the lily pads softer, shaded from the
harsh afternoon sun.” She felt convinced that if she could find a way across
the fast flowing water, then she would be happy. |
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A fly buzzed by and
the frog flicked out her tongue without thinking and swallowed it. The other side of the river, she sighed dreamily. Just
then a large crocodile swam up onto the river bank and plopped himself down
in a pool of sunshine and wet mud. Nervously, the frog hopped back a step or
two. “Wonderfully
sunny here isn’t it?” The crocodile
commented, smiling down at the frog. “It
sure is,” Frog grumbled, kicking a dirt clod down into the water. “What,”
the crocodile said, “You don’t like it? Is that why you spend the whole day
staring out over the water?” The crocodile gestured at the far side of the
river with a flick of his tail. “I doubt you’d like it any better.” “Oh
but I would,” the frog protested. “I know I would. I just can’t get there.
The river is too deep and the water flows too fast.” “I
can see how that might be vexing for a little fellow like you. I’d offer a
ride, but I just ate a large lunch and I can’t be bothered to budge from this
wonderful patch of sun. I’m much, much too full; besides, I’d probably just
eat you.” |
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“You could give me a ride?” The frog said,
suddenly excited. “That would be so wonderful!” She hesitated. “I don’t want
to be eaten,” she hopped another step back, “But I really want to get to the
other side. It’s my life’s ambition.” Another fly buzzed by. The frog
swallowed it without much mind. “I
like you,” said the crocodile. “You’ve got spunk. Tell you what, there’s a
nice sunny spot over there, just like this one, where I can take my nap and
enjoy the sun on my back. If you’d like, I’ll carry you across the river.” “Oh!
I’d love that, but you won’t eat me will you?” “Well,
I’m feeling pretty full right now, but just to be on the safe side, you could
ride on my tail.” |
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The frog felt uneasy and yet, being far too
excited to pay her intuition any mind, she jumped up and onto the crocodile’s
tail. The crocodile slipped into the water and began to swim. His tail swept
back and forth powerfully and the frog struggled to hold on, afraid of
falling off, of being swept away by the river and drowned. The
frog looked down into the deep, clear water and saw a group of fishes,
clinging desperately to rocks and twigs. Suddenly one of the fishes let go
with a shout and was carried, tumbling away by the current. That could be me, the frog
thought, now more afraid than ever. “Perhaps it would be easier for you, if you rode upon my back,” the
crocodile suggested, noticing Frog’s discomfort. Gratefully, the frog agreed
and hopped up on the crocodile’s broad, rough back, breathing a short-lived
sigh of relief. “Ouch,” the frog
exclaimed, hoping from foot to foot. “I didn’t realize how hot your scales
were, my feet are burning.” The frog hopped along rows of horny spikes, so
tall she couldn’t see around them, unable to find a comfortable spot. |
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“Well,” mused the crocodile, “I suppose you
could ride on my head. It’s flatter and cooler. Perhaps you’d be more
comfortable up here?” Again, Frog agreed and hopped up the crocodile’s neck
and finally found a nice place to settle down. “Ahh,
that’s much nicer,” Frog said. With
a toss of his head, the crocodile flipped the poor frog up into the air and
swallowed her down. “But
why,” Frog cried out from the stomach of the crocodile, “Why did you eat me?
You said you were full; you said you weren’t hungry?” “Alas, it is my nature to eat frogs. What did you
expect? I am, after all, a crocodile.” |
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The moral of the story (if you’re a frog):
Never accept a ride from a crocodile no matter how fat the flies seem on the other side of the
river. The moral
of the story (if you’re a crocodile): It’s impossible (or at least really,
really hard) to transcend your own nature if frogs keep jumping on your head.
Parables
are fun and fascinating because the deeper you dig inside yourself, the more
meaning parables can have for you. So, I’m only going to comment indirectly
on our friends Frog and the crocodile in part two. |
