Blog #145--How the World Works--a Child's Tale

(Author’s note: For perhaps the first time in my life, I had a vivid dream where I took part in an extended conversation with another person. Upon awakening, I felt inspired to write it down because it simplified a complex subject from my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life.” I am not an experienced children’s writer, but I hope the message proves helpful.)

Once upon a time, there was a powerful group of people who controlled the lives of everyone else. As more and more people began to resist their oppressors, the worse their lives became. Seeing no way out of their misery, they came together for the common cause of defeating their hated overseers in a war.

A young man who didn't believe in killing of any kind hid in a small shed until the bloodshed had ended. Upon finally emerging from his hiding place, he discovered the upstarts had indeed won the war, and they were celebrating their glorious victory. Among those in the happy crowd was a small boy.

Pretending to favor the winning side, the young man came up to the boy and asked, “Are you enjoying our victory?”

“I sure am,” said the boy. “Those evil people deserved the beating they got, and now we’re in charge. Our holy book predicted this victory, and now we can enjoy 1000 years of peace.”

“That’s true,” responded the young man. “Too bad peace can last only 1000 years. Compared with the age of our planet, 1000 years isn’t very long.”

“Why would anything change after that?” asked the boy.

The boy had two small doggy magnets in his hand, so the young man recognized a way to explain himself.

“When the white doggy and the black doggy face each other, you can’t force them to stick together, right?”

“Right,” answered the boy.

“That’s because in magnets, likes repel one another. Now what happens if you hold tightly to the white doggy and let go of the black doggy?

“The black doggy spins around and the two doggies stick tightly together.”

“Correct,” answered the young man. “The head of the white doggy and tail of the black doggie are opposites, and opposites attract. Both doggies are together, with the black one leading the white one. Now what happens if you hold onto the black doggy and let go of the white doggy?”

“The white doggy spins around, and the two stick together with the white doggy in front of the other one,” answered the small boy.

“Very good. “That’s how the world works also,” explained the young man.

“I don’t get it,” said the confused boy.

The young man then compared the magnets with the two armies that had just fought their battle:

“People are more complicated than doggy magnets, but the idea is the same. When our enemies first took power, those of us who survived were forced to follow them. But over time, they began to abuse us, and we began to resist them more and more. Eventually, we realized we were at least equal to our enemies, so we united to gain back our freedom.”

“We sure did,” exclaimed the boy proudly.

“In other words, we faced them head to head. Like the doggy magnets, that made us repel one another. Our oppressors were trying to hold onto their position of power, like you holding one of the two doggies, while we were changing. When we got close enough, we spun around and were suddenly ahead of our enemies.”

“And we will keep it that way,” the naïve small boy stated with certainty.

“Now that we have won the war, what do you think will happen to those still alive who lost their lofty positions?”

“They will have to follow us,” the boy recognized happily.

“That’s correct. If they want to live, they will have no choice but to follow us and show us proper respect. This attracts us to each other just like the two magnets. But over time, some of them will resist our authority, and we will use stronger measures to keep them in check.

“And they will deserve whatever punishments they get if they don’t obey us,” exclaimed the young boy, echoing his parents’ sentiment.

“Perhaps,” responded the young man. “But how do you think that will make them feel? Won’t they eventually resent us as much as we resented them?”

“I don’t know, I suppose so,” surmised the small boy, now beginning to question his previous attitude.

“At some point in the future,” added the young man, “our former oppressors will desire to attain their freedom from us and will rise up against us. If we try to hold onto power at all costs they will unify, face us in battle and possibly spin around and become our leaders again.”

“I never thought of it that way,” admitted the young boy. “Is there any way we can prevent more wars?”

“The chances of that are as slim as forcing your two doggy magnets to remain attached while facing each other. For that is how this world works.”

A small glint suddenly appeared in the small boy’s eyes. As he walked away to rejoin his family and other celebrants, his race to learn the truth of his existence had begun.

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