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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