Lessons, lessons, lessons! What on Earth are we here for? You guessed it lessons. Lessons are the meaning of Life.

Now, I know some of you, myself included, feel that lessons must be painful to be appreciated or remembered. Contrary to popular belief, not all lessons have to be painful. Some can even be fun. It's all in the 'moral to the story'. Life gives us wonderful examples to follow ... allow me to illustrate.

Learning From Animals

I work on an organic farm which has some truly remarkable animals. These animals are my friends and are treated with the same respect I would treat a fellow human. In return for my caring, these creatures have afforded me the opportunity to learn some marvelous lessons.

Lesson 1: Unselfishness

A gallant red rooster taught me the meaning of unselfish chivalry. I watched this gorgeous bird scratch up a grub from the ground. Instead of gobbling it up as I expected, he called a hungry hen over and allowed her to eat the grub from between his feet. I was under the illusion that only lactating mothers did this for their young ... red roosters can be just as unselfish. Why can't we all take a page from this rooster's book? That was my lesson for the day and it was delightful and memorable.

Lesson 2: Tenderness

I have learned other lessons from God's creatures. A tiny, green tree-frog taught me the importance of tenderness. I rescued it and he or she sat upon my finger resting there, grateful to me for the tender mercy I had shown it. I coaxed it to hop, but it would not leave the sanctuary of my hand. In that instant, I became humbled by the helplessness of that little creature and all creatures at the mercy of mankind.

Lesson 3: Living in the Now

Animals, you see, can be our teachers. We need only recognize their wonderful ability to live in the now absolute and their total and complete innocence and trust they place in the source or God as you call it. They know instinctively what is. We, on the other hand, must learn it ... or is it 'unlearn it"? Maybe that is one of our grandest lessons: to get back to that divine state of simply "knowing" as animals do, what really matters. To rid ourselves of all the competitive fear-based garbage we've been led to believe as Truth. To realize that Heaven or Hell can be right now!

Grow Up

What exactly do I mean by grow up? Simply this. To put aside all our petty, foolish nonsense such as materialism, greed, power-crazing, hatred and self-pride and live much as our animal teachers. The American Indians did it, before we came along. They didn't even know what "Green Paper" was. They didn't need it. Only civilized man needs it. Where has it taken us?

When you stray from the teachings of nature into the dark world of materialism you pay a price. That price is Chaos. You mess up the natural order of things. You pollute. You destroy. You create waste. That has been the unfortunate, painful lesson of the past two thousand years of civilization. We, as civilized human beings have all been a party to it.

It would take something of otherworldly proportions to open our eyes, and then it may be too late. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you; as long as I got mine." We were saying that as we slaughtered the last buffalo. That ME MODE attitude will surely lead to our undoing.

Is it really that impossible to change? Not if the will is there. If the will to change is there, then anything is possible.

Making Earth "The Better Place"

This planet could become a haven and a Heaven. You wouldn't have to die and go to some "better place" - this would be a "Better Place!" There would be very little pain and suffering for all creatures. All would live in Peace and Prosperity. There would be food plentiful.

The time spent on making war and making money would be spent on making peace and food. There would be pure water to drink and clean air to breathe. The "old technology" that was used for materialism would be replaced with the New Age Technology of peace, health and prosperity without greed, pollution, or war.

The Rooster Lesson

These fine, gallant red roosters have already learned what we haven't in the past two millennia ... to get along with each other. It is a fallacy that roosters fight all the time... by breeding them in captivity for this purpose, man has perpetuated this myth.

In reality, these birds not only get along with each other but serve as "Group Teachers" for the young. I watch in awe and amazement as an older established rooster will pair off with a young group of male birds and bond with them, teaching them everything he knows.

Even when they reach adulthood, there is no petty bickering, no personality clashes and no ego trips. They all share the same food, they all share the same life. The only real competition with them is with Nature; and Nature, or God, is "their" teacher.

Maybe someday we can all live like we once did before fear got hold of us. Before the Greed Demons got us ... before we fell from grace - the 'grace of innocence', the grace of a Big Red Rooster.

Reminds me of words to a song I heard when I was growing up: 'Maybe I'll be there to shake your hand ... maybe I'll be there to share the land.' I hope we all will.

Song referred to above is "Share the Land", written by Burton Cummings, lead singer of the Canadian band, The Guess Who. (song lyrics)

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Recommended book:

Are You As Happy As Your Dog?
by Alan Cohen.

You will laugh, you will cry, and best of all you will ask yourself 'Am I as Happy as My Dog?' An inspiring gift book for any pet lover. From the author: Have you ever wondered if your dog knows more about joyful living than you? I met a man who told me, "For years I was so miserable that I prayed to God daily to please let me wake up as happy as my dog!" I went home and observed by dog Munchie, who is happy all the time. Munchie is the most joyful creature I have ever seen. He lives in a state of continuous delight and discovery.It became clear to me that Munchie knew something I didn’t know (or at least didn’t remember). So I decided to study Munchie’s attitude to see what he knew that I was missing.

For more info or to order this book.

About The Article's Author

Roddy White works on an organic farm and is totally dedicated to the positive transformation of this planet. Roddy can be reached at: P.O. Box 1235, Thonotosassa, FL, 33592. (Editor's note: This was the contact info at the time this article was originally published.)

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