Table
of Contents:
Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Our
Story
"The Mother Duck and the Mayor
who Understood Love"
Chapter
One
It was a most lovely and unusual day!
Chapter
Two
In which the mother duck and her brood receive a visitor…
Chapter
Three
Pastor John and his wife take a walk
Chapter
Four
Mountain Flower has a dream, takes a walk, and gives
the ducks a special blessing
Chapter
Five
Mr. Stan and Mr. Bob clean their window, stick together,
and are cheered up by the ducks
Chapter
Six
Rabbi Joseph and his Talmud school charges say "shalom"
Chapter
Seven
In which our ducks receive two final visitors, become
hungry, are fed; and-
the day is changed with a little surprise from Mother Nature!
Chapter
Eight
In which the Mayor, who had been watching the goings
on of the unusual day through his window, writes a speech
Chapter
Nine
The Mayor's speech
Chapter
Ten
A miraculous end to our story, or how the miraculous
entered the 'everyday' of our little village
Appendix
A Listing of Abundant Change Books and Recordings
Music-Outreach Nostalgic & Uplifting Books & Recordings
by Michael D. Purvis
Excerpts
from Book:
Introduction
Our
world is increasingly diverse, and increasingly in need
of love and tolerance. If we could only see what a blessing
it is that we are all different, have different beliefs,
and come from different cultures, places and life paths.
The Mother Duck and the Mayor who Understood Love
is a wonderful little story which illustrates this point
in a delightful, sensible way. Oh, if we all had the sense
of our mother duck! She is an inspiration to us all. Perhaps
there is an "inner mother duck" and gifted, conciliatory
mayor within all of us just waiting to come out and bless
and heal our world.
Enjoy!
The
author
Chapter
One
It
was a most lovely and unusual day!
It
was a beautiful spring day in a quaint little town; the
sort of day during which the air fairly sparkles and the
sun turns all a unique shade of color.
The
green wasn't just green. It was a shimmering, translucent
green, as though the very grass and buds were alive and
whispering to all who saw them:
"Wake
up look about you!
Notice all that is alive about you and rejoice in it!"
The
sky was an elegant, robins egg blue with wispy white clouds.
The brown bark and the rich moss of the ground seemed extra
luxuriant to all who saw it.
Everything
was coming to life!
And,
in the little ditch by the side of the road, which had become
with the spring rains more of a creek, a mother duck and
her brood of fuzzy yellow and brown ducklings waded and
washed themselves, as the passers-by walked past and noticed
with the joy the splashing about of this delightful family
of birds.
Now
this mother duck, like all mother ducks, had an innate sense
of protectiveness toward her brood of children. If any contrary
person was about, if any danger was about, she would guide
the ducklings quickly away. And, she was always looking
about for such danger, for she was a very good mother duck.
Normally,
she didn't have to look far for danger or contrary persons,
for there were many people in this little village who didn't
always get along! It was not uncommon for the mother duck
to see, right on the street, people arguing, giving judgmental
looks, or whispering about one another. For as in many little
towns, the folks here did not always see each other's differences
as a blessing!
The
mother duck had many skills. She could herd the little ducklings
together with her large, all- encompassing wingspan in the
blink of an eye. She showed her little ones how to clean
themselves expertly and thoroughly. And, she nudged them
and quacked to them in the just the right way, so that they
would learn all they needed to know about the many things
little ducks must learn: how to swim, how to eat, how to
drink water, how to assess the weather, and watch out for
danger.
Eventually,
she would teach them how to fly. But on this day, the weather
was perfect, there wasn't much danger about, and it was
not yet time to learn to fly. And so, this family was mostly
just splashing about and enjoying the day.
Normally,
when people walked by, the mother duck would help her ducklings
to scurry away. They would paddle in the water with their
little webbed feet, encouraged by their mother, and move
quickly around the corner to their hiding place under a
bush.
That is what the ducks would normally do. But today was
a beautiful, calm, rather special spring day, and the mother
duck did not seem to sense any danger in the air.
And
it was not only the mother duck who was reacting a bit differently
in the town today. It seemed that everyone who was about
in this burg was in love, in love with life, in love with
goodness and kindness.
For, who could not be, on such a beautiful, shimmering spring
day?
©2003,
Michael D. Purvis
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