Thursday, January 7, 2010

"out of the egg" by tina matthews

Out of the Egg by Tina Matthews:

One day a Red Hen found a green seed.
"Who will help me plant the seed?" she asked.
"Not I," said the Fat Cat.
"Not I," said the Dirty Rat.
"Not I," said the Greedy Pig.
"Then I shall plant it myself," said the Red Hen.
And she did.

Soon the seed began to sprout, but the sun was hot and it shone down on the seedling day in and day out. "Who will help me water the seedling?" asked the Red Hen. "Not I," said the Fat Cat, said the Dirty Rat, said the Greedy Pig. "Then I shall water it myself," said the Red Hen. And she did.

Every day the Red Hen fetched water, but as the tree grew up, so did the weeds around it. "Who will help me dig out the weeds?" asked the Red Hen. "Not I," said the Fat Cat, said the Dirty Rat, said the Greedy Pig. "Then I shall dig them out myself," said the Red Hen. And she did.

The winter came with the wind and the rain. "Who will help me shelter the tree?" asked the Red Hen. "Not I," said the Fat Cat, said the Dirty Rat, said the Greedy Pig. "Then I shall shelter it myself," said the Red Hen. And she did.

Through wild days and mild months and slow-turning years, the tree grew bigger. And one warm spring day the Red Hen found a safe place... and laid a perfect white egg.

Out of the egg hatched a little red chick.

And in good time a little cat, a little rat, and a little pig came out of the house and walked past the Red Hen on the hill. "Who will let us in to play under the tree?" said the little cat, said the little rat, said the little pig. "Not I!" said the Red Hen with a wry smile.

"Mum, that's MEAN!" said the little chick, and everyone else was very quiet. The Red Hen looked from the little cat and the little rat and the little pig to her own little chick. "Perhaps it is," said said softly. "Do you think I should ask them in?"

"No, I shall ask them myself," said the little red chick. And she did.

So the little cat, the little rat, the little pig, and the little chick played all day around and about the great green whispery tree. And when it was time to go home... the Red Hen gave them each a green seed.



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So this is what I'm thinking of starting my lead the Om with. I was going to relate this story to aparigraha, non-hoarding.. i think it could work. but at the same time, not sure. i still have a month to figure it out. from this story, i would go into talking about Om (bija/seed mantra) and that would get me started. ok that's all.

2 comments:

Jill Manning said...

Amanda,

I fear that is going to be to long. The trick in the opening is to know your passage or reference material so well so that you can describe it with sutra like percision and make the yoga link quick and meaningful and begin.

love|practice

jill

Amanda said...

thanks jill! :)