A Tale Of Six
Children
A long time ago six beautiful and lovely children, all
members of a loving and caring family, found happiness and peace in life. Like
most siblings theirs was a healthy rivalry and competition for the favor of
their fathers affection and love. Their mother loved them all equally and
although each claimed a special place in her heart, her unconditional love for
each of them was apparent. They all shared in their family's tribulations and
accomplishments. They grew strong and capable, each given special gifts and
talents that they nurtured and honored. They had great respect for their parents
and obeyed them religiously. As they grew older, one by one, they set out to
find their way in life.
Each was given a piece of their mother's land for their
own. Their father gave them each tools and knowledge to assist them in their
life's journey. As with many children, their youth was spent in wonder and awe,
little did they know how much their very existence was guided and directed by
their parents. As the years passed they developed their land and their place in
this world. They learned to use their father's tools and prospered. Their
rivalry continued however, unlike that of children, theirs had become part of
their way in life.
They gradually became separated as they made their place
in life. A few remained in close contact while others became more and more
distant. The land of their mother was vast and such great distances made
communication difficult and infrequent for most of them. They each had made
their place, their home, suitable for their families and children. Over time,
some of the six children totally lost contact with the others. They developed
their own languages and although they would stop by to visit their parents and
speak in the old language, even those familiar words were almost foreign now.
Their own children were taught much of their family heritage but because of the
changes in their lives, little communication was possible. Parents never die,
rather they move on to new and wondrous possibilities. Despite their age, the
parents never failed to acknowledge the particular success of each of their
offspring.
Like most families, parents seem to have a favorite child.
The same was true of this family. The oldest and youngest were by far their
favorites. The oldest child was not the prettiest, nor the wisest. Nor was the
oldest particularly smart. But the oldest was by far the most experienced in
life and its ways. Having tasted many of the fruits of life and being. Having
tested many of the rules and advice of their parents. The youngest was the most
innocent and lacked the savvy of the others. By far the most beautiful and the
most sheltered. All the children were treated with equal love and affection.
However, these favorites would always be the ones seated closest to their
parents.
Eventually their father passed away and was buried in a
place that the six children considered sacred and hallowed. Nearby the home of
their mother. As children they all had played in this place and it was fitting
that their father would be laid to rest there. Over the years they each would
stop by to visit their mother and to honor and pay their respect to their
father. It was a better place where now he rested. And they knew that someday
they too would follow him. And as such they each felt it an honor and duty to
write stories and sing songs of his great and loving rule. Although each had
their perspectives, they knew that despite their differences in perspective,
they all were of his seed.
All the many years in each their own home gave them
strength in their land. They began to have children of their own. Like their
parents, they gave unconditionally and with great nurturing, they raised their
children to honor and respect their lineage. They gave offerings to life for all
the good and sustenance that supported their lives. They all lived in reasonable
harmony for many years until the day that the children of the favorites happened
to be visiting their grandmother at the same time. One of them asked which of
the favorites was the favorite of all. She spoke slowly and clearly. The wisdom
of years and years of struggle and patience made her response seem a bit odd at
first. She replied to them by saying, "The first shall be last and the last
shall be first".
No sooner had these words been uttered, when suddenly, the
oldest child took offense to their mothers comment. "Have we not always
been faithful and loving, honoring and obedient? Have we not always chosen to
remain close and nearby, to care for you and our father? Why have you put us in
such light?" The youngest was a bit embarrassed and being an innocent was
perplexed and confused by her words. The rivalry between the children would now
escalate and despite the efforts of the other children, they would no longer
share and communicate. This greatly saddened her. In her sorrow, she fell into a
great sleep from which none could awaken her.
The oldest of her children began to argue and fight with
the other children. Feeling forsaken and lost, they sought peace and solitude
but they were denied their wishes. Even the youngest had been changed. No longer
an innocent, they ways of the others began to annoy and bother. A feeling of
loss swept over the land and the offspring of the youngest. Learning hate and
envy from the oldest child, their rivalry was now more than just child like. It
was now a battle to protect the remaining innocence.
The land of the oldest child had turned to desert and in
its forlorn and inhospitable place, the offspring of the oldest grew hard and
heartless. Their love for life and the wonders of their heritage became a
weapon, a chalice of bitter blood that was used to quench their loss of grace
and now such low position in the eyes of their ancestors. The other four
children tried for many years to help the oldest and youngest repair their
wounds and mend their differences, to no avail. Many, many generations passed
and the children of the children of the children of the children no longer knew
the real reasons for the conflict that kept them isolated. Each had their own
families and offspring to nurture and protect. The four who had tried so hard
now busied themselves with life and their own struggles and efforts. While the
two favorites grew their hatred. Every now and then seeking help and assistance
from the others in their conflict. It was not easy to pick sides for each had
been favorites and as such, there was little incentive to help them out. After
all, it was petty fighting. Did not all the six children receive blessings and
gifts? Did not all the six children prosper and grow on their mother's land?
The youngest seemed to be the one that lost the most.
Innocence can never be reclaimed. And once hate had been learned, the acrimony
between the youngest and oldest would forever be. The land they each had been
given began to feel the effects of the hate and loss of innocence. The offspring
of the youngest spent their lives securing their borders and building defenses
to keep the offspring of the oldest away. The offspring of the oldest had
developed armies and terror to hold the offspring of the youngest in fear. As
generations came and went, the animosity between the youngest and oldest grew.
Long forgotten were the reasons. However, the pain and suffering were recorded
in books and kept fresh by the never-ending conflict.
The six children were given a color. The oldest was olive,
the color of life and its bounty. The youngest was given white the color of
innocence and newness. The other children were given red, the color of freedom
and expression, yellow the color of wisdom and perseverance, brown, the color of
wonder and accomplishment, and black the color of trust and connectedness.
Through these colors, they were all able to recognize one another.
Thousands of years later, the oldest, still sought
retribution from the youngest. Even though centuries had passed their bitter
hatred had not diminished. The youngest pulled into a conflict that it could
never win. Enmity and distrust their only connection. The other four children
had left a legacy of hope and wonder, trust and caring. Their offspring grew and
developed into great nations. Yet, somehow, the battles fought were against the
youngest not the oldest. There was honor in that. For the oldest had been
chosen, the youngest merely favored.
The youngest had developed a great technology and used
knowledge to secure and protect their land and offspring. The offspring of the
other four children, learned and shared with the youngest, their experience and
ways of life. They formed a coalition. A unity of spirit and trust. They sought
peace and harmony in a world that for centuries had been divided and separate.
The youngest sought to resurrect the memory of their ancestors. Yet the oldest
would not participate. Claiming their right to be the first, the chosen of all
the six. And so they were shunned.
One day in some distant future, the youngest devised a
plan to settle the conflict. No longer innocent, the plan was devious and
calculated. Through careful and deliberate actions, a great show of power was
unfolded. The display was intended to once and for all to establish their
position. It was imaginative and creative. And most of all it was destined to
forever separate them.
Using their own technology, sacrificing their innocence,
to unify the descendents of the other four children, to gain their support and
trust, they planned to kill some of their own offspring and the offspring of the
others. They trained their aggressors and provided them with the tools and
knowledge that would perform the deed. It was late in the year of the second
millennium, the target had been selected long in advance but no one knew the
time or hour. When the attack took place, it appeared as though the offspring of
the oldest had acted in hate and dishonor. Unity and sorrow resulted; the
offspring of the youngest acted surprised and hurt. And suddenly the fate of all
would be changed forever.
Over the many generations, the lands of their ancestors
now intermixed and difficult to identify. Only the oldest still fought for their
own place. The six threads of human consciousness would be reduced to five. That
of the oldest soon to be buried with the years of hate and conflict. The
children of the youngest would innocently kill. And in doing so, would reflect
the words spoken long ago. The first shall be last and the last shall be first.
And in that moment, all of human consciousness would be divided into two groups.
The chosen and the damned. The free and the controlled. The righteous and the
persecuted. And the price would be the loss of eternal existence. Leaving only
ashes and dust where once stood the symbol of power and glory.
Most humans have four fingers and a thumb.
Children of innocence no more.