ONCE UPON A TIME….
THE RHINO IN THE MEADOW
A Story of acceptance…..
Once upon a time the King of All The Earth created a beautiful meadow full of flowers of every possible colour and fragrance imaginable. It was a very special place and many creatures lived there together. They revelled in its divine beauty, drinking in the aromatic perfume of lilies, lavender, and lilac, to name just a few. As they danced around in the meadow it felt to them like they were floating amidst the heady perfume, and they seemed to lose all their cares and worries. Predators did not come near them as the King of All the Earth had made it a secure place, with a mighty wall around it. It was known by those around it as a place of goodness and its fine fragrance floated across the whole land, drawing many to its walls.
Within the meadow lived one very royal creature. She was very happy there and danced around like a ballerina, breathing in the fragrant air and laughing to herself at the sheer absurdity of her situation. You see she wasn’t your typical light-footed dancing queen, and ‘her sort’ were not well known for their agility or dexterity because this ballerina was in fact a Rhino!
Yes you can laugh now can’t you? Can you picture her on tiptoes spinning around? And she would laugh with you as- once upon a time- she too thought the idea was preposterous.
Not so long ago our ‘little Rhino’ had been drawn by the beautiful fragrance that had drifted her way. Following the scent she had come to the meadow wall and looked over. Completely overcome by the sight of the beautiful flowers and by their divine fragrance, she began to ask whose meadow it was.
This is when she met the King of All the Earth. He greeted her kindly and told her that this was His meadow and that she was welcome to come in and enjoy it. Others came along too, and having met the King they also wanted to live in his meadow. This is where Rhino came into her own! She decided that she would use her great strength to help those smaller creatures who couldn’t climb over the wall. She would bid them climb upon her great horn and lift them over the wall.
Some days tiny little hedgehogs and other such beasts came along and Rhino was afraid she would injure them if she dropped them over the wall, and so she simply battered a hole through the brick so that her friends could run through. For a long time the Rhino came to the walls and helped others, and whilst she was there she would chat with the King. She felt she had found the most amazing friend but she never went into the meadow.
“Why”? You might ask.
Well each day our little Rhino would approach the wall and look over. She would gaze upon the beautiful pink flamingos and envy their elegance, at once realising that she was fat and had rolly-poly parts that they might laugh at. She would watch them spin around on their beautiful long legs and wish hers weren’t so stumpy and …well…wide!
The King of All the Earth watched his lovely Rhino and decided to encourage her. The next day when she arrived at the wall she found a big sign had been erected.
For a moment little Rhino’s heart skipped a beat. She approached the wall and looked over. But she didn’t see any other Rhinos. She could only see elegant creatures with long legs or silky wings spinning about in flawless harmony.
‘That’s really no place for me’, she thought sadly and wondered away.
The next day the fragrance had grown even sweeter and as she yet again approached the wall, she came upon another sign
ALL Rhinos welcome here.
Oh how badly she wanted to believe that this sign was meant for her. Surely it could be, after all she was a Rhino and the sign said…..but NO, there must be a mistake. She ran away as quickly as her little fat legs could take her and hoped that none of the elegant creatures within the walls had seen her. But someone had seen her. The K
ing of All the Earth had been watching and was sad that she hadn’t heeded his sign. He knew that the next day she would be back and sure enough she was. This time the sign was much much bigger- and bolder
ALL RHINOS MOST WELCOME HERE –
YES YOU! YOU! REALLY!
Ps. I will teach you to dance.
Just as the little Rhino was deliberating, she heard voices.
‘Hello Rhino’ a little voice called out. She looked down and saw a ladybird spinning around, wings unfurled.
‘Why don’t you come in and play? ‘Frantically looking for an excuse she muttered ‘I can’t climb the wall, I can’t dance and I am very fat’.
At once all the creatures joined in the conversation
‘Not fat, strong. Strong enough to have helped a lot of us over the wall’
‘The King will teach you to dance’
‘Knock down the wall, just as you did for me’
Then all at once the pink flamingos gathered and squealed
‘Come on in now. We will help’.
Looking behind her she could see the King of All the Earth smiling and nodding His approval and with one massive effort she lifted a leg onto the wall.
‘Oh help me, I can’t climb as I am after all I am a …’ but she never got any further.
Many creatures large and small appeared and cheered loudly as the King of All the Earth came over to the wall and with one swoop of His arm, lifted her clearly over the wall into the meadow.
She didn’t even have to learn to dance!
Engulfed in the sweet fragrance of the flowers and surrounded by her new friends she simply spun around with complete abandon.
She gazed at the flamingos and felt proud to be amongst them. She knew she did not dance the way they did.
She couldn’t spin, but boy could she stomp!
Furthermore other smaller creatures were in the habit of climbing onto her horn and joining in the fun.
Some days she looked out over the wall and saw others coming towards it.
‘Get the sign out’ she would call to the King of All the Earth ‘there might be some more Rhinos ….’
BE YOURSELF…YOU ARE UNIQUE
Too many do not realize the damage that is done by hurtful words and actions, believing that the only “real” abuses are physical or sexual. But these verbal and emotional abuses cause wounds deep to our spirits and souls and set up many for failure, especially during this day and time with cyber-bullying with the various social media. The wounds inflicted are not visible to the naked eye… but God sees all the wounds and every cause. Nothing is hidden from God.
M.A.S.H 