I read this little story on my Facebook feed today:
An African tribe does the most beautiful thing.
When someone does something hurtful and wrong, they take the person to the center of town, and the entire tribe comes and surrounds him.
For two days they’ll tell the man every good thing he has ever done.
The tribe believes that every human being comes into the world as Good, each of us desiring safety, love, peace, happiness.
But sometimes in the pursuit of those things people make mistakes. The community sees misdeeds as a cry for help.
They band together for the sake of their fellow man to hold him up, to reconnect him with his true Nature, to remind him who he really is, until he fully remembers the truth from which he’d temporarily been disconnected:
“I AM GOOD.”
It’s a beautiful sentiment and one that perhaps I should start using when I discover that the chickens, who have been let out to free range around our dinner table, have discovered that the best picking are on *top* of the table.
You are beautiful, you are calming, and you are certainly ingenious. Trust me, you are ultimately good.
Now shoo, away.
shoo
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.
