I’ve been pondering peace as the Blogblast for Peace approaches. I think that war and prejudices often begin from hatred, that hatred is an offshoot of fear, and that fear is born of ignorance. I don’t mean “ignorance” as in “stupid,” but as in “not knowing.” In this day of the World Wide Web, we don’t have much excuse for not knowing.
The following is a poem by John Godfrey Saxe ( 1816-1887). It is his version of a folktale that was told in the 13th century in what is now Afghanistan. It touches on that idea for me. Consider this parable and tell me what you think.
The Blind Men and The Elephant
It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approach’d the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -”Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”
The Third approach’d the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” -quoth he- “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” -quoth he,-
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said- “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” -quoth he,- “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL,
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean;
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
Tomorrow is the Blogblast for Peace. If you have noticed the peace globes flying on the sidebars, click on one and see what it’s all about. Making a peace globe is very simple, and the instructions are included on the site. I just visited Mimi’s site and she says:
We only need 14 more peace globes to completely color in the United States map with peace globe bloggers! Send these states……
ALASKA, DELAWARE, IDAHO, KANSAS, LOUISIANA, MASSACHUSETTS, MISSISSIPPI, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMONT AND WYOMING.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Shelly!
Great post! I’ve never heard that poem before, but I love it!!! How true it is, too.
I’ve been accused of being a “middle of the roader” at times, especially with politics and religion. I think sometimes people look at the smaller differences and make their judgments and decisions based on the tusk or the tail and don’t look at the whole elephant.
I don’t think that any one religion is right or better than any other and I think the “truth” lies somewhere in the middle of all of them. With politics and government, I feel the same way. Too much to the left or the right and I think they’ve lost sight of the whole elephant…or donkey…whichever….
Great post! Loved it!
Jessica
Thank you, Jessica. The Blind Man and the Elephant is one of my favorite folktales to tell to kids. I was re-reading it and realized that it fit with the theme. Whether we are talking religion or politics, everyone’s “truth” is just a little bit different, isn’t it? And, it all seems to be about our own individual perceptions. Now, if we could find a way to get people to accept that other individuals can be a little bit right, too…then maybe peace is a possibility!~skt
Now that is what I call powerful. You nailed it, but I knew you would.
I am sorry about the Sylvester and Tweety post. I took about as long as you too. Duh!
That Sylvester and Tweety was hilarious!~skt
I love that poem — it says so much in such an excellent way. A trunk is different from a tusk is different from an elephant ear, yet it is all part of the elephant — and similarly, people often get so fixated on minutiae that they blind themselves to the whole picture, to the larger scheme of things, the broader view.
Happy Blog Blast for Peace Day tomorrow — I am participating, and so are my cats.
Hope your Blog Blast Day is happy, too. Thanks for visiting~skt
I have heard that poem before and to me it speaks of people not taking the time to get the big picture. In the past we have counted on the media such as television news, news magazines and newspapers to get us the big picture, but I don’t believe much of what is “given” to us. There seems to be other intentions that get in the way of the real story, not a lot of sharing of information. Just think of the creature the blind men would have created if they had taken the time to get together and talk about their observations. They would argue first and then hopefully a wise one would say let’s touch it again. The end result would probably have ended up being an elephant if time and intelligence had come into action.
I fear for the lack of intelligence that I see as an issue, we are so easily led that no one questions.
Deep post Shelly tonight, so timely given the debates.
Thanks, Jen.~skt