One day, a man well in to elderhood was strolling on a path near his favorite pond. He heard what sounded like a squeaky voice on the ground and looked down to see a frog who seemed to be moving it's lips as if to communicate. He picked it up and listened closely.
The frog said; "If you kiss me I will turn into a beautiful princess."
The man frowned, pondered, and then put the little animal in his pocket.
"Don't you want a beautiful princess?" she asked.
He replied; "At my age I'd rather have a talking frog."
My cousin, Tom, shared this joke from Rev. Nicholas Vieron the other day and I immediately stole it. Ripped it off as we used to say. Sorry Tom and Father V. but the theft is part of my shtick today. I'm sure they will forgive me. Men of the cloth have big, forgiving hearts. I don’t think anyone can really own a joke (or even a parable) anyway. Once told they must be spread around like peanut butter.
When I was a kid, minor stealing was an offense that resulted in corporal punishment and banishment to your room. One time, at age seven, I put some candy in my pocket without paying for it at the Liberty Market in Danville. My mother found the contraband of course. I was marched back to the store to apologize and beg forgiveness. Then came the long, solitary confinement while I followed the dreaded mandate of “Just wait til your father gets home.” It wasn’t pretty.
So, it was with great hesitation that I lingered at the bookstore shelves in front of Abbie Hoffman’s paperback “Steal This Book” in 1972. I couldn’t follow those instructions due to prior conditioning, so bought it instead. Imagine how crestfallen I became after reading his assertion that it was immoral not to rip things off from the status quo. What a weak willed activist I was!
My thinking has evolved however. I saw a copy of Abbie’s book on auction the other day and never considered ripping it off. Maybe that could have been a tough thing to do on EBAY. My passions have changed too. Though liberating people from psychological and spiritual bondage has been my dream and life’s work, I have no desire to ‘take it to the streets’. That’s the way it works for most all of us. Thoughts and passions mellow and become something akin to sage wisdom. We need both the young wide-eyed idealists and experienced elders to make the world go round. The problem is that too many of us abandon our dreams somewhere along the way.
With all this in mind, let's go back to that frog in your pocket. Mysterious and miraculous things flourish when fairy tales come to life. They transform reality and open up possibilities. Walt Disney demonstrated how to spread around pixie dust willy-nilly even when circumstances seem most impossible to overcome. He refused to give up or give in despite bankruptcies, professional scorn, and door after door being slammed in his face. But ultimately, with persistence and a little abracadabra, he created for us a mouse and a magic kingdom. By so doing, countless thousands are delighted every day, and millions of lives have been brightened forever.
Though passions and thinking might change over time, they should never be compromised or abandoned to the humdrum. So, kiss a frog, or benefit from its ability to talk. Either way, don't be so self-absorbed that you pass her by in your hurry. Pick her up. Live passionately. Uncle Walt might just give us this advice...If you can dream it, you can do it. All your dreams can come true, when you have the courage to pursue them.