grandpa and children

• Children, Sages and Clowns...Spiritual Experience and Gestalt Therapy by Brian O'Neill, 4/26/97
  
  

GRANDPA

- Tell me, Grandpa, wherefrom did the stars came?

- When the first Grandpa decided to leave the Earth to wander in the skies, he promised, as their folk had asked him, to mark the places of his stroll. As they convened, he promised he would light a small fire to print his footsteps in the skies. And he said: "as long as the stars blink in the skies I will remember all of you and send a gift to everyone. The first star will grant a desire. The second will keep a secret. The third will bring you a recollection. And we will gather around them, as we do now, to tell our stories. This way the stars were born. The stars are the small fires alighted by the first Grandpa. They recollect his stories to our minds.

- And the lakes, Grandpa? What the lakes are?

- When the first Grandpa leaved the Earth and decided to build the skies with his strolls, the beings were split in two kinds: the celestial and the terrestrial ones. He took to the skies fires he had taken from Earth. These were the stars. And in the Earth he left a few things taken from the skies. Lakes are skies pieces placed in the Earth. They mirror the stars. The sun and the clouds. Lake images are the skies wandering in the Earth. And their waters, heated by the sun, stroll in the skies as clouds, that come back as rain, to refresh and feed the plants and all other beings. A clean mind will see the sky mirrored in the lakes.

- And the rivers, Grandpa? Where did they come from? - When the waters, heated by the sun go to the clouds, to walk in the skies, they explode in tiny drops so as to, cleansed, be able to absorb the breath of the skies. And as drops they fall to spread celestial blessings everywhere. But, as all other beings, waters want to be together. So, in their longing for the Earth, all of them take the route to lowlands, the bosom of the valleys, to meet again. Rivers are the water’s roads. Their strolls across the Earth. And the waterfalls are their merry plays, when they fasten their steps and sing by the whiteness of their foam.

- And the trees, Grandpa, the mountains, where did they come from? - Before the first Grandpa leaved to the skies, the whole Earth was a prairie and all plants were crept to the ground, embracing the soil. When the first Grandpa started his celestials wanderings, some of them tried to climb, extending their arms in a praise of Grandpa, and the Earth bursted upstairs as mountains trying to reach the skies to search and see him. Birds got wings and in songs sang their joy.

- And the flowers, Grandpa? Where did they come from? - Before the leave of the first Grandpa, division was unknown. Not males and females were known. Then division came. Things were split apart so as to feel attraction. And the force known as love begun to unite what had been separated. So came the flowers, to announce this longing for union.

- And the questions, Grandpa? where do they come from? - When the first Grandpa leaved, he took the whole world and everybody inside him, so as not to suffer from longings. And he built the inside and the outside. Then, the eyes began to see outside and inside. And ears started to hear outside and inside. Heart is what unite inside and outside. Questions are but alleys, roads between people, things, and inside and outside worlds. - And the words, Grandpa? Where do they come from? - When the first Grandpa went, and the space appeared, so as not to be a void, the world begun to build places for things. Many things. And each thing, so as not to feel alone, won a meaning. The first Grandpa wrapped the meaning of each thing in a word. So, inside each word, there lies the meaning of each thing. Then nothing is void and alone, for each thing carries its meaning in a word. - And life, Grandpa, where did it came from? - In his wanderings, once Grandpa went very far, far away. From so far, he could see all stars. He felt a joy the size of the sky. And he started to dance all that joy. He danced and danced. So much did him dance that he began to wish that his joy could be shared. This desire begun to grow and grow. So big it became that resulted in the biggest explosion that ever happened. From that explosion, numberless sparks were spread. A big breath took these sparks away. This was Grandpa’s breath of joy. And all things came to life by these sparks and breath. - But Grandpa, before the first Grandpa left there was not life here? - Before the Grandpa leave, things were quite different. All things were inside him. To start with, there was not after, nor before. Nor end, neither beginning. Time, itself, was a big ball of thread kept inside the first Grandpa’s ear. By the time of his Big-Joy, this thread - ball begun to unroll itself. And the thread of time begun to weave the wide plot of which all life stories are woven. - But Grandpa, the first Grand didn’t live here, with us? Didn’t he leave from here? Is he too far? Where is he? Is it difficult to meet him? - Since the first Grandpa existed before after and before existed, no after nor before exist for him. He just stays. And where he passes, there he is. -Is it difficult to meet him? - No. The difficulty lies in staying quiet. You just have to be quiet to meet him. When the thread of time unrolls, it makes a small noise. If you can hear this little noise, you are hearing Grandpa. -But can we see him? -The first Grandpa existed before inside and outside existed. To see the first Grandpa, you must know that he is everywhere. Maybe he is in a dream of yours - or, maybe, in a small lizard. As every word keeps something inside, and every thing is a box with a meaning inside, so is Grandpa, the meaning. - But can we see the meaning? - Now, here is where the secret of inside and outside lies. You have to overcome these barriers to see the meaning. You have to allow a thing to enter inside you. Or it is you that have to enter her to find its meaning. Then, you will be able to see the first Grandpa. - Can we talk to him? - Of course. But you shouldn’t. Learning to hear him is what minds. Many people talk and talk with the first Grandpa. They finish by talking with themselves. It is said that the first Grandpa does not hear them. That is not true. The true is that they don’t know how to hear. - Does the first Grandpa hear us? - Yes. Always. Since the big time’s thread-ball fell from his ear and started to unroll itself. - Is he hearing us? Now? - Yes. Sure. We are talking with him. We are talking about him. We are the questions. - Then...- he is the answers! - Yes. - Has he been with us all this time? - Yes. And he stays where he flows ... - So, we can keep him forever? - Yes; as he keeps us. - But, suppose we forget him ..., grandpa. - You just have to stay quiet. Then, call him. Ask him questions. Learn again to hear him. Then, we will feel the breath of his great joy blowing our life to its fullness.

The autor, Paulo Barros, is a gestalterapist, a webnaut, a lover of nature, life ,animals, plants, a writer for short stories; likes cooking and dancing. Enjoy people and lonlyness. Email= pbjolu@usa.net

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