A Little Wisdom for Growing Up, Second and Expanded Edition. John C. Morgan

      A Little Wisdom for Growing Up

      Second and Expanded Edition

      From Father to Son

      Copyright © 2016 John C. Morgan. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Resource Publications

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-0484-3

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-0486-7

      ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-0485-0

      Manufactured in the U.S.A.

      “

      Preface

      Dear Jonathan,

      I know you don’t like it when I give you advice, but I believe you also realize that I care about you and want to save you from the same mistakes I made growing up, which is, of course, silly, because you will make your own mistakes no matter what I write. I’m not sure I can remember a single word of advice my father gave me, which doesn’t mean he didn’t offer any, but only that I had to learn myself by living. I probably thought he knew as little as you think I do now.

      Nonetheless, I have learned some wisdom from having lived so long, even if it took me falling down a few times. These short stories, or fables, drawn from the natural world, are simply ways of sharing a few things I have learned after over sixty years on this fragile planet, both from my own life and the teachings of the world’s great philosophers. Maybe they will help you grow up wiser than I was. On the other hand, you may make the same mistakes, but at least you won’t be able to say I didn’t warn you.

      Always remember that I loved you. Grow in wisdom and take care of yourself. It’s a dangerous but beautiful world, full of illusions and wonders, but mostly a stage upon which you must find your part to play in the unfolding drama. How you decide your role and how you play it will go a long way toward being wise, and wisdom is what we all hope to have one day.

      Love,

      Dad

      A Note for Teachers and Readers

      Reading should be fun and interactive. The stories or fables here can be used in many settings and in many ways. Here are a few suggestions:

      1. Read the fables as bedtime stories at home. Read the story first; then ask the child what she or he believes the story means. You can then read my interpretation.

      2. Read the stories in the classroom setting using the same process described above. I have used this process in my college philosophy and ethics classes and find students love stories and also the game of suggesting what they mean.

      3. Adults and or children can use the stories in classes in congregations or other organizations as a way of teaching values or everyday ethics. I would also suggest having students write their own fables or stories and share them with the class.

      Have fun!

      The Lion and the Ant

      Once upon a time there was a great lion in the forest who always took a morning walk. Out on his path one day he came upon a huge chest, which he pried open with his teeth. He looked inside the chest and found gold. He was not quite sure what to do with it but, being proud, he knew he couldn’t ask for help, so he left it there and hurried on his way, not wanting others to realize that their king was so weak.

      A few hours later an ant happened to come upon the chest. He, too, saw the gold. But he knew it was far too heavy a load for him, so he hurried home and asked a large army of his fellow ants to help. With their help, the ant carried the chest of gold home where they were able to buy enough picnic food to last a few winters or more.

      Moral: If you find yourself with a heavy load, ask friends to help carry it.

      The Rainbow

      The colors were fighting again as they fell from the sky.

      Yellow said: “I am a royal color, just like the sun that is very powerful indeed. Give me more space to fall!”

      But Blue disagreed. “I am the color of sky and water and all that makes people happy. I should become the favorite.”

      It wasn’t long before Green cut in. “I am the essential color of life, of plants and trees and all that means the springtime. The earth welcomes me more than any others.”

      Red then talked about blood and skies and clay, while Purple suggested robes and sunsets as being best. Orange stood up and announced the morning sun and fading moon, while Brown drew attention to the mud and sands that covered the planet.

      The more they argued the more the colors flew apart.

      Suddenly the whole sky opened up and a voice made them stop fighting and listen. “I grow tired of your arguments about who is the best. You will never accomplish much if you don’t get together.”

      Just as soon as the voice stopped, the colors found themselves touching as they stretched across the sky. They knew they had formed a rainbow.

      Moral: If you spend all your time thinking you are best, you will soon feel very much alone. But if you touch others, you, too, may become thing of beauty, a rainbow.

      The Tortoise and the Human

      The human loved to tease the tortoise.

      “See,” said the human, “I can run much faster than you can,” as he skipped by.

      The tortoise looked up and smiled.

      “And I can grasp things with my hands, which as everyone knows is the mark of a higher species,” the human said as he plucked a berry from the tree and put it in his mouth. The tortoise just smiled.

      “Surely the Creator loves me best,” the human said, “at least that’s what I read in all our sacred books.”

      This time the tortoise looked at the human directly. “There is one thing I have that you don’t.”

      “And what could that possibly be?” asked the human, hiding a smile about to form.

      “Some of us live to be a hundred and fifty years old,” said the smiling tortoise, “which means that long after you’re gone, I will still be moving along this path with a smile on my face.”

      Moral: If you take the long view, sometimes things will work out after all.

      The Mosquito and the Hummingbird

      It was a late, bright spring morning when the mosquito and the hummingbird found themselves in the same backyard.

      The mosquito was quite taken by how fast the wings of the hummingbird fluttered.

      “Tell me, friend,” said the mosquito, “how do you manage to fly and yet stand still at the same time?”

      “I don’t think about it else I would drop to the ground,” responded the hummingbird. “That’s just the way it is,” he said as he returned to the fire bush flower on the clinging vine.

      “But don’t you ever