The ancient one looked at the youth and said, “Good morning Bright Sunshine.”
“Why did you call me that?” asked the girl. “It is not my name.”
“It is the name I felt when I saw you,” he responded. “Your hair is the color of the sun. Your eyes are alive and searching for wisdom. Your skin is pretty and your clothes show your love and energy. You are as bright as the sun. What wisdom are you searching for today?”
The little girl giggled at the compliments. “I want to know about the earth, about the plants, animals and other living creatures. I want to know about the rain and the rivers and the hills. I want to know why it is all there and what I should do with it. I want to know so much, but no one will tell me.
“Sit my child, this will take some time,” said the old Indian as he pointed to a blanket on the ground near him. “Why do you ask me these things?”
She thought about his question and answered with a smile, “Because you look like you have been here a long time. Do you own this land?”
“You observe well Bright Sunshine,” he said. “First, we own nothing. The earth was here before us and will be here long after we are gone. We are not left the earth by our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”
The little girl’s eyes rolled in the back of her head. The Indian laughed. “This confuses you,” he said. “Let me explain. We have pieces of paper that say we are responsible for certain parts of the earth. Our family is caretakers of this land. Your family has the same responsibility for your house and lot. But, we don’t actually own it. Through time and money we have purchased the right to take care of it. How well we care for it affects our neighbors near and far. More importantly, it affects how our children will be able to continue to enjoy it, and their children after them. It is our responsibility to give our children the land in better condition than we found it. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” answered the little girl. “Please tell me more.”
“Man has responsibility, not power,” continued the old Indian. “Man thinks he has the power to control the earth when actually, he has the responsibility to care for it. We have created big cities where our people live and work. We have dammed the rivers so we can harness power and control the path of the water. We have done great things that make us feel powerful. But, all of these things are only temporary. The wind and the rain and the fire have the real power. You have heard stories or seen news articles on tornados, floods, hurricanes and fires. As hard as man tries to think he has the power, he has the simple responsibility to care for his children’s land to the best of his ability through all of natures challenges.”
“What is our biggest responsibility?” asked the girl.
“To feed the earth and not to poison it.” said the old Indian with a sigh. “We have created things through our science that control the weeds and the bugs. All living things have a purpose. When we respect all living things, they respond with respect for us. There is knowledge and wisdom. Of the two, wisdom is the more important. Knowledge is understanding things of the past. Wisdom is caring for things in the future. In our search for ways to grow more crops on the same land, our knowledge gave us the ability to kill the weeds and the bugs but because we lacked wisdom, we also killed the small animals and almost made the eagle extinct. Wisdom has allowed us to recover from that mistake, but we haven’t learned our lesson. We still use things from cleaning and home care to gardening and farming that is having a hurting our children’s land.”
The little girl and the old Indian sat silent for a while as the girl thought about his words. The wind blew softly and in their silence, a small chipmunk came close to the little girl’s blanket. “What things do we use that are causing problems?” she asked. “And, what problems do they cause?”
“Two questions,” started the old Indian. “Many answers. First, going back to knowledge. Our science has helped us to do wonderful things. We have stopped diseases. We have overcome air travel and even space travel. But, our science has done other things that are not so good. We have created chemicals that do certain things. But, in creating these chemicals, we are no longer in harmony with nature. Do you understand what harmony is?” he asked.
She didn’t answer, but just shook her head side to side.
“Harmony is when all things work together to create something that is better than any one thing by it self. Take for example a choir. Each individual voice may be pretty, but one singer might sing low and another higher and another still higher. When you put their voices together, the highs and the lows, they sound amazing. In nature, there was a good harmony. The earth worms crawled through the soil providing air and oxygen to the roots. The rain brought nitrogen and other elements from the air to feed and water the plants. The droppings from the animals provided more food and natural fertilizer. Our knowledge let us create fertilizers that replace the food from the droppings and the nitrogen from the rain. In all appearances, it made the crops grow taller and give more food. But, in our lack of wisdom, we killed the earthworms and gave the crops abundance of some elements and none of trace elements that they needed for complete harmony.”
“Our knowledge has created more problems for us with our cleaning supplies and household care items,” he continued. “In our search for easier and better ways to clean, we have not only damaged the earth, but we are making ourselves sick as well.”
“What do you mean?” asked the little girl as she sat up on the blanket. “My mom says we clean so we don’t get sick.”
“You mom is working with the knowledge that she has. We have tried to make things that make cleaning easier and look better and smell clean. Here is the problem with the cleaning supplies we use today. There are over 70,000 chemical that have been created in the last sixty or seventy years to make cleaning easier. Most of them have not been tested to see what they do to people or pets, even though we do know what they do to nature in larger quantities. Did you know that over 90 percent of all poisoning in America happen in the home? Did you know that over 85 percent of those are children who drink cleaning supplies? These things are dangerous. They are so out of harmony with nature that they kill all living things, not just the germs they are targeted for. In our search for knowledge to make life easier, we have damaged it. There is a direct relationship in the rise in childhood asthma to the increase in cleaning chemicals we use in our homes. The true smell of clean is no smell at all. We our not taking care of our children or their land very well at times.”
The little girl stood up and said, “If this is wisdom, I don’t think I want any more. It hurts.”
“Please,” said the old Indian. “Sit down. Wisdom is the foundation of change. The things I am telling you today will still be true for you tomorrow for the truth lies in what you believe. Today, I am planting the seeds of wisdom in the form of an old man’s knowledge. Those seeds will grow as you do. Then, one day, Bright Sunshine, you will be the one to bring change to the world.”
“Me?” the little girl did not sit down. “I am only one person. How can I make people change?”
It’s Up to You
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship
One handclasp lifts the soul
One star can guide the ships at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room,
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer,
One hope will raise the spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what’s true.
One life can make a difference,
You see, it’s up to you.
“Oh, my,” exclaimed the little girl. “Are you saying it is up to me to change the way people do things?”
“Not in the beginning,” smiled the old Indian, knowing he was making progress. “You start with the little things. You do the things that you can do. Some will change simply by watching how you do things. As you grow, you will learn how to share you wisdom with others. Some day, you may even pass this information on to my grandchildren the way I am sharing it with you.
“Can you tell me some things I can do!” the little girl exclaimed. “I want to start today.”
“How many things can your remember Bright Sunshine?” quizzed the Indian. “That is how many things I shall tell you.”
“I can remember my ABCs,” she said. “May I one thing to remember for each letter?”
A is for the Air. Do not pollute the air.
B is for Bottles. Recycle plastic and glass bottles
C is for Children. Keep the children safe and treat there land well.
D is for Dishwasher. Use products that are certified Green with no phosphates.
E is for Everyone Everywhere Every time. This is who is responsible for the earth
F is for Facts. Know the facts about being green. This knowledge will feed your wisdom.
G is for Ground. The ground is the source of life for all things. Treat it well
H is for History. Learn from history what is good and what is not. Grow the good.
I is for Information. Collect all information to help you make a good decision.
J is for Junk. Put it in its place.
K is for Knowledge. Knowledge is neither good nor bad. How you use it will be good or bad.
L is for Love. Love all things and you will treat them well.
M is for Materials. The material something is made from tells you how to dispose of it.
N is for Nothing. This is the only thing you should not do.
O is for Oil. Oil must be disposed of properly. It does great damage to the surface of our earth.
P is for Plastic. Put it in its place.
Q is for Quiet. Loud sound is also a pollutant. It can damage many things.
R is for Rabbits. When the earth is healthy there are many rabbits.
S is for Search for Solutions. All problems have a solution when the search for them is done well.
T is for Time. The time is now to take responsibility for nature. If not now, when? If not you, who?
U is for Uniting. When we unite together, all things are possible.
V is for Victory. When harmony returns to the earth, we know we are victorious.
W is for Worms. The worms are testimony to the health of the soil.
X is for eXtra effort. Extra effort is needed by all to achieve the harmony of which we spoke.
Y is for You. You see, it’s up to you.
Z is for Zero. There are zero do-over’s in protecting our planet. We have got to get it right.
“If I do these things, will the world be better right away?” the girl wanted to know.
“Ah, Bright Sunshine. That is a great question,” acknowledged the Indian. “It is like swimming across the ocean. For a very long time you will feel like your work is accomplishing nothing. Then, one day, you will see the other shore. The goal you having been working for will be in sight and you will work even harder. Then, one day you will stand on the shore and you will know your effort has been rewarded.”
“What if I fell like quitting?” asked the girl. “What should I do?”
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worse...That you must never quit!
“Will you help me?’ asked the girl, looking directly into the old Indian’s eyes.
“Yes, I will,” responded the old Indian.
“Where will I find you?” she asked.
“I will be right here,” said the elder as he reached out with one finger and touched her heart. As he completed this gesture, he smiled at her. She smiled back. Then, a light breeze began to blow. Their eyes were locked. Their smiles etched on the windows of time. Then, the old Indian’s form began to fade. In a few seconds, he was dust. A dust that blew away with the breeze.
The girl was paralyzed. Where did he go? Was he there? What had just happened? Was he a memory? Was he her imagination? Was he a ghost? “How will I know what to do?” She shouted. As quiet voice sounded on her ears.
“When the time is right,” it said. “You will know. You will know.”
The time is right. The time is now. If we will each do our part to care for the earth, great things will come of it. In this world, we have amazing gifts. At this moment, I am preaching to the choir. You are here. That means that you already interested in doing your part. The question I have is this. Are you encouraging those in your circle of influence to do the same?
Is that little voice saying, “I am not telling people to do this. What will they think?” Or, is it saying, “The time is now. The time is now.”
Think for just a second about one of our forefathers. What if Paul Revere had just picked up his rifle and went out to the edge of town and said, “I’ll stop those darn Brits.” Well, that is what we are trying to do. This problem is bigger than any one of us. We need to recruit. We need to get on our stallions and ride through the country side saying, “Take care of the Land. Our Children are depending on us.”
There are many ways you can be less threatening with your recruiting, and probably much less likely to be duct taped to a stop sign. Be open to conversations about being green. Let your neighbors know some of the things you are doing. Have a bigger recycle container than garbage container. Reward your children from making green choices. Choose paper instead of plastic.
Actions speak louder than words. If you are not sure what to do, go the library. Jump on the internet. Do something.
To bring in another old Indian saying, ‘If you have one foot in the canoe and one foot on land, you will wind up in the river.
Knowledge is everywhere, but choice only exists within your mind, driven by your heart.
“The time is now. It's up to you. The time is now.”
