something to think about...
Well, like I said, I am working at a daycare this summer as a TA, and yesterday I was reading my children the best children's book ever, Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. I haven't read that book in ages, and when I was reading it, I got goosebumps and teared up, because it has such deep messages that I did not really realize until now that I'm older. So anyways, for those of you who are not familiar with this book, how very tragic :(, I am going to provide some short highlights of the book...
"Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy. And everyday the boy would come...and the boy loved the tree...very much. and the tree was happy. but time went by. and the boy grew older. and the tree was often alone".
(the boy keeps coming back to the tree throughout his life and takes a piece of the tree with him to make him happy, and then leaves the tree alone)
(in the end, the boy, now a man, comes back to the tree again)
"I want a boat that will take me far away from here. can you give me a boat, said the boy to the tree"?
"Cut down my trunk and make a boat, said the tree. Then you can sail away...and be happy".
"And after a long time, the boy comes back again. i am sorry boy, said the tree, but i have nothing left to give you"
"I don't need very much now, said the boy, just a quiet place to rest"
"Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. come boy, sit down and rest"
"And the boy did, the the tree was happy..."
There are so many messages in this book, it is incredible. And it is one of these books you can analyze forever, and go back to at different parts in your life and have new outlooks and realize and understand parts that you never did before. But the question I challenge everyone to think about now is,
"does the boy remind you of someone"?
I know the boy sure did remind me of myself. See, I think children are the closest people to God on the face of the earth. They are so innocent, so dependent, so loving...but I think as we grow older, we lose touch of ourselves in a way, and we allow the weight of the world to take bits of our happiness away. We forget what it is like to live like children, like children of God. And at the end of our life, I think everyone will come running back to "the giving tree" like little children, surrending themselves to it, and desiring and wanting nothing more than the unconditional love of the tree. This book is definitely something to think about, and it made me think about my life at the present, and how I really should be living it.
Anyway, please post comments. I would love to hear reactions! Have a wonderful day all!
(and to someone very special to me ;), thank you for being you. you help me to see the child in me)
"Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy. And everyday the boy would come...and the boy loved the tree...very much. and the tree was happy. but time went by. and the boy grew older. and the tree was often alone".
(the boy keeps coming back to the tree throughout his life and takes a piece of the tree with him to make him happy, and then leaves the tree alone)
(in the end, the boy, now a man, comes back to the tree again)
"I want a boat that will take me far away from here. can you give me a boat, said the boy to the tree"?
"Cut down my trunk and make a boat, said the tree. Then you can sail away...and be happy".
"And after a long time, the boy comes back again. i am sorry boy, said the tree, but i have nothing left to give you"
"I don't need very much now, said the boy, just a quiet place to rest"
"Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. come boy, sit down and rest"
"And the boy did, the the tree was happy..."
There are so many messages in this book, it is incredible. And it is one of these books you can analyze forever, and go back to at different parts in your life and have new outlooks and realize and understand parts that you never did before. But the question I challenge everyone to think about now is,
"does the boy remind you of someone"?
I know the boy sure did remind me of myself. See, I think children are the closest people to God on the face of the earth. They are so innocent, so dependent, so loving...but I think as we grow older, we lose touch of ourselves in a way, and we allow the weight of the world to take bits of our happiness away. We forget what it is like to live like children, like children of God. And at the end of our life, I think everyone will come running back to "the giving tree" like little children, surrending themselves to it, and desiring and wanting nothing more than the unconditional love of the tree. This book is definitely something to think about, and it made me think about my life at the present, and how I really should be living it.
Anyway, please post comments. I would love to hear reactions! Have a wonderful day all!
(and to someone very special to me ;), thank you for being you. you help me to see the child in me)