We are in Lincoln, NE watching grandkids for a week. I forget how much time a two-year old and a four-year-old can require. Whew! But such fun. No time for a full post this week, but it occurred to me that I have never just posted the Bead People story, The Wind of a Thousand Years. I have had such fun with this project. People all over the world (7000 in 40 countries) have met our little friends and agreed with their message. I share the story here in case you haven’t seen it. We love sharing the project with schools and churches and youth groups all over.
Sadly, the mighty wind has not yet ended. I wonder what more we could do to bring peace to this poor planet?
The Wind of a Thousand Years
Once upon a time
in the land of then, not now,
when the world was different
(but not so very different),
there were many clans and bands of people all living
in their own little areas of planet earth.
There was the Shell Clan and
the Crystal Clan; there was the Forest Clan
and the Seed Clan and many,
many others too numerous to name.
Life was good and they didn’t quibble or fight
because they never saw each other.
Then one day,
it began as a very ordinary day,
with the sun and the blue sky
shimmering above the earth
but, by late afternoon,
the sky grew very dark.
Huge black clouds rolled in
from the east and the west.
More clouds crawled in
from the north and the south.
The sun blinked out
and a mighty storm overcame the earth.
The wind was fierce,
like nobody’s business.
The people huddled in their
caves and corners, in their
huts and houses
seeking safety and shelter
from this mighty wind.
For a thousand years
the wind blew across the earth.
Those poor people; the sand got
in their eyes and blinded them and,
to make matters worse, the wind pulled them
out of hut and home tossing them
about as if they were winter leaves.
Needless-to-say,
this was not very much fun.
Just when the people thought
they could not tolerate the storm
a single moment more,
the wind flew off with
a final gruff huff.
The stillness was extraordinary—
so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The sun rose above the earth
and the blue sky was happy to take its place
once again beside its best friend, the sun.
But for the people, all was not well
What a day it was when all the many
clans and bands of people
rubbed the sandy grit out of their eyes
and looked around.
What they saw astounded them.
Nobody knew where they were
or to which bit of land
they had once belonged.
All had been tossed about.
And even more curious,
the people themselves
had blown into each other for so long
that even their body parts
had gotten mixed up.
No, it was not pleasant,
those first years after
the mighty wind had ceased.
All attempts to re-gather and return
to the old ways were foiled
by the simple fact
that the clans were now
all tangled up.
It was quite the identity crises.
Sadly, there was some fighting,
a couple of world wars,
a few scrimmages and bullying,
a bit of long-standing fussiness.
Most of these were led by those
who still thought they could
undo the work of the mighty wind.
Thank goodness,
others began to see more clearly
(now that the wind had ceased)
and saw that WHAT IS
was every bit as nice as WHAT WAS.
Rather pretty, actually,
this bit of Bone Clan mixed up
with the shining Crystal Clan,
the Seed Clan linked forever
with the Stone or Forest Clan.
To finally settle the matter,
the people called a meeting
to discuss what should be done
about this odd set of circumstances,
this little mix-up, so to speak.
In the end, they decided there was
no other solution but to celebrate
the many in the one.
What else could they do?
There was no sense crying
and whining about it.
Wind happens!
After much discussion and voting,
they decided to form a new clan
in which each honored the bits and
pieces and parts of the other.
They decided to call themselves . . .
The Bead People.
Here is the manifesto as it was written
following the Wind of a Thousand Years.
We, The Bead People of Planet Earth,
agree to take care of ourselves and each other
and to never harm another because
he or she is different from me.
In our differences
is our strength
It was not a perfect manifesto,
but The Bead People agreed it was a
good beginning and resolved to follow it.
The Sun and The Blue Sky were there
and also made their pledge.
However, they made
a special request—
that the animals, the oceans,
and the earth be included.
The Bead People were most happy
to accommodate and so it was written . . .
We, The Bead People of Planet Earth,
agree to take care of each other,
Mother Earth and all of her creatures
and to never harm another because
he or she is different from me.
Be sure to visit thebeadpeople.org. And do share our story with others. Or better yet, order your own Bead Person or a do it yourself kit and share it on an even larger scale. Each Bead Person comes with its own copy of the story. Also, as always, subscribe to my weekly blog below and share it with other people seeking to live a more intentional life.
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