the frog in the well

There sat at the bottom of a well a group of frogs who were conversing with each other about what the blue dot above their heads was. An old frog told them it was the sky. He told the group all about the sky. He said that it is sometimes black and sometimes blue and sometimes gray. He further told them that the sky would sometimes talk to them. When he was young (a few weeks ago), it used to say all kinds of mysterious things. Lately all it said was “Climb the wall!” The old frog told the group (all of whom were not alive the last time the sky spoke) that those who didn’t listen to the sky were drowned as water rushed into the well after it admonished them to “Climb the wall.”During this conversation, the sky spoke. “Climb the wall,” it said. Some frogs climbed the wall and were safe from the flood that commenced. Others didn’t and were drowned. One little frog thought to himself, “The sky said to climb the wall, he never said how high.” So the little frog climbed and climbed. His friends told him he was foolish. “Why climb more? You are safe from the flood and the water is already subsiding,” one said. “Soon, life will be back to normal,” another added. But the little frog realized that there must be more to life than speculating about the sky, waiting for it to tell you what to do. He realized that the suggestion to “Climb the wall” was an invitation! So, on he climbed. As he climbed, he realized that the higher he climbed, the harder he worked, the larger the sky became. The higher he reached the more he learned about the sky. Finally he reached the top of the well.On top of the well to greet him was a very old frog. The young frog asked him, “Where did you come from?”“The well,” the old frog replied. “How did you get here?”“I climbed like you did, how else?”“How did you know to climb?”“The frog I replaced at the top of the well called me, as I just called you.”“How did you know I would come?”“I didn’t know you would come, but I knew someone would.”“So what should I do now?” the young frog asked.The old frog commenced telling him about the sky. He explained the sun, stars, clouds and rain. He gave the frog so much understanding about the world around him that the young frog, feeling happy to finally understand the sky, wanted to share his new enlightenment and freedom with all the frogs in the well.Then he asked the old frog, “What are you going to do now?” “I’m going to swim in that pond. It is up to you to make sure that you tell the frogs in the well to climb the wall when you see it rain. They can’t understand that the rain fills the well and will wash them away.” With that he hopped away.“How long do I do this?” he asked.“Until someone listens long enough to replace you!”In all aspects of our lives we are a “frog in a well”. In some areas we may be on the well, with great understanding and freedom, trying to encourage others to work hard enough to get out of their “well”. In other areas, we are frogs at the bottom, looking up and thinking we understand, when in reality we only grasp a shadow of reality. In all cases, we come to a position of understanding and freedom by subjecting ourselves to self-improving work. We must work to get understanding, we must strive for freedom.
Copyright 2005-2009 Orville Thompson