The Valley of Unity

For those who regularly follow this blog it may be noticeable that i have begun to post some of my previously written poems and stories. There have been numerous requests to be "published" etc. What i thought was to put the stories here so that you, the reader, could enjoy, skip over or ignore them depending on what you think of the quality. The theme of a good number of children's stories that i have written are inspired by the Seven Valleys written by Bahá'u'lláh. It is these seven valleys that our soul travels through in this life. My thought was to write stories for children that were inspired by the Seven Valleys. This one I wrote while still living in China.

The following quote comes to mind when i think of this story.

Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty. (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Báha'u'lláh, p. 65)

The Valley of Unity

Under a tree in a land far away a little boy named Ling was playing in the garden and was watching the ants gathering food and taking them home to their anthill. He picked up a stone and dropped it across their path. This not only disturbed the ants but it also kept them from their food.

It so happened that Lings’ teacher saw him doing this and went to talk to him.

“Little one” said the teacher.

“Yes teacher” said Ling

“I see you have been observing the ants.” Stated Ling’s teacher.

“Yes I have” replied Ling.

“What are the ants doing?” asked the teacher.

“They are gathering food,” said Ling.

“Did you know that they are doing more than just gathering food?” asked the teacher.

Ling was very curious because he could not see anything that would be different than gathering food. “No,” he replied.

“The food they gather,” said the teacher, “helps clear the garden of things that we do not need. In clearing the garden they help us. If they did not clear the garden it would be harder to keep and the vegetables would be harder to grow. Everything has a purpose. The ants are here to help us and the other creatures.”

Ling listened very carefully to his teacher. His teacher continued. “Put yourself in the place of the ant. He works all day gathering food for his family. He is unaware that he is also helping the plant, animals and us in doing so. Like the ant the same can be said for the other insects and animals. If you look at the bird, she eats the insects and keeps them from becoming too many. The bird eats and at the same time she helps. The same can be said for the fox in the woods that eats the mouse and keeps there from being too many mice. At the same time the mouse does his job. Each one of these creatures does a service for all of us and themselves.”

“Does every animal have a purpose?” asked Ling.

“Yes,” said the teacher, “we can’t understand the purpose of every creature but we can look at what we do know. Look at those trees”

Ling looked and saw the apricot trees growing.

“The trees provide shelter for us, and fruit to eat.” “Look around” he said, “everything in the World has a purpose.”

Ling was deep in thought as his teacher watched him. He thought about the ants, the trees and the birds. He then thought about the oceans and the fish in them. He thought about all of this and realized that we are all pieces of a big puzzle. He looked down at the ants again. He started to see each of the ants in a different way. He carefully picked up the stone and gently placed it out of the way of the ants.

The teacher smiled at Ling, turned around and walked away.