The stories La tells....

Problem:
One Cookie.
Two Kids.

Solution:
One child divides the cookie in half.
The other child gets first choice of halves.

American Folk Advice from Peace Tales
by Margaret Read MacDonald

HOW TWO BOYS SETTLED A QUARREL

Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow were brothers.
They lived by Singing River, and they played from sunrise to sunset.
They were as happy as the day was long.

In the summer, they fished and swam in Singing River, and they shot their arrows into chipmunk and woodpecker holes.
Sometimes they played "Dodging Arrows," a game their mother had taught them.

In the winter, they jumped into snowdrifts and rolled until they became red with cold. Then they would send their snow-snakes skimming over the hard crust of snow.
(Snow-snakes were small rods of wood, polished smooth with resin, oil, or wax. They could be thrown long distances. Their father--could throw a snow-snake a mile and a half. But the snow-snakes he used were eight feet
long and tipped with lead.)

It was the Moon of Berries. Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow were six years old. And not once in all their lives had they quarreled.

One morning, Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow planned a foot race.
Seven times they were to run.
Three times, Flying Squirrel reached the goal first.
Three times, Lightning Bow had outrun him.
The seventh race was so close that each boy claimed the victory.
No one saw them run, so no one could decide the game.
For the first time in their lives the boys quarrelled.

The boys voices became louder and louder as they became more and more angry.

Their mother, was baking corn bread on the coals of their fire, when the sound of angry voices reached her ears.
She stepped to the door. "For shame!" she called. "Both of you come here."
When the boys reached their mother, they saw that she was holding three sticks.
"These are Argument sticks" she said, "They will help you settle your disagreement."
Then she showed the boys how to set up the sticks so they would stand for many days.
"Now go into the woods, set up your sticks, and leave your quarrel there. When the Berry Moon has passed, you will return and see if the sticks are still standing. If they lean toward the rising sun, Lightning Bow is right. If they lean toward the setting sun, Flying Squirrel is right. If they have fallen down, neither of you are right and neither won."

Lightning Bow and Flying Squirrel went into the woods and set up their
sticks.
Then they began to throw balls with willow wands, and soon they were happy again.

The sun had risen and set many times.
The Berry Moon had passed.
It was the Thunder Moon when the boys mother said to them, "Today you may go into the woods and see if your sticks are still standing."

Hand in hand, the two little boys ran into the woods.
They found only a heap of rotting sticks.
Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow stood and looked at the sticks.
They thought and thought.

"What did we set up the sticks for?" each asked of the other.
And for the life of them they could not remember what they had quarrelled about, and why they had set up the sticks!

Retold by LaurenLanita original story found in Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children @ Project Gutenberg





Here's a wonderful list of books that deal with a variety of difficult situations......stress, conflict resolution, methods of dealing with fear, death, etc. As well as topics like peace, tolerance and unity.
Finding Comfort in Books

Four Candles burned slowly.
Their Ambiance was so soft you could hear them speak ....

The first candle said, "I Am Peace, but these days, nobody wants to keep me lit."
Then Peace's flame slowly diminished and went out completely.

The second candle said, "I Am Faith, but these days, I am no longer indispensable."
Then Faith's flame slowly diminished and went out completely.

Sadly the third candle spoke, "I Am Love and I haven't the strength to stay lit any longer."
"People put me aside and don't understand my importance. They even forget to love those who are nearest to them."
And waiting no longer, Love went out completely.

Suddenly...
A child entered the room and saw the three candles no longer burning.

The child began to cry, "Why are you not burning? You're supposed to stay lit until the end."

Then the Fourth Candle spoke gently to the child, "Don't be afraid, for I Am Hope, and while I still burn, we can re-light the other candles."

With Shining eyes the child took the Candle of Hope and lit the other three candles.

Never let the Flame of Hope go out of your life.

With Hope, no matter how bad things look and are...Peace, Faith and Love can Shine Brightly in our lives.

Author Unknown

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take if from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.

6. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

7. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

8. If it looks like mine, it is mine.

9. If I saw it first, it's mine.

10. If it's broken, it's yours.

I found this on a child care provider site recently.
It was waaaaay too funny and too TRUE not to share!!!

The picture book cover is of a book on sharing and toddlers.
To find out more about the book go to Mine! Mine! Mine! by Shelly Becker

So yesterday, June 4th, was the official Blog for Peace day and me being somewhat date challenged forgot.
But I figure better a day late than not at all.
The first place I saw this idea was at Mimi's Blogblast for Peace website.
If you want to know more about this movement please visit that site.

I love telling stories that advocate peace.
Stories that make people think.
There are two wonderful storytelling resources that advocate peace.
Both of them are on my book shelf.
The first is Peace Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald and the second is Spinning Tales Weaving Hope with many editors (for more info on these books please check the bookshelf to your right).
Here are a few of my favorite peace tales.
(For thoughts on Peace, check out my Mother Theresa Blog .)

Not Our Problem
The King sat with his Adviser eating honey on puffed rice.
As they ate they leaned from the palace window and watched the street below.
They talked of this and that.
The King, not paying attention to what he was doing, Let a drop of honey fall onto the windowsill.
"Oh sire, let me wipe that up," offered the Adviser.
"Never mind," said the King.
"It is not our problem.
The servants will clean it later."

As the two continued to dine on their honey and puffed rice,
The drop of honey slowly began to drip down the windowsill.
At last it fell with a plop onto the street below.
Soon a fly had landed on the drop of honey and begun
His own meal.
Immediately a gecko sprang from under the palace and with a flip
Of its long tongue swallowed the fly.
But a cat had seen the gecko and pounced.
Then a dog sprang forward and attacked the cat!

"Sire, there seems to be a cat and dog fight in the street.
Should we call someone to stop it?"
"Never mind," said the King.
"It's not our problem."
So the two continued to munch their honey and puffed rice.

Meanwhile the cat's owner had arrived and was beating the dog.
The dog's owner ran up and began to beat the cat.
Soon the two were beating each other.

"Sire, there are two persons fighting in the street now.
Shouldn't we send someone to break this up?"
The King lazily looked from the window.
"Never mind.
It's not our problem."

The friends of the cat's owner gathered and began to cheer him on.
The friends of the dog's owner began to cheer her on as well.
Soon both groups entered the fight and attacked each other.

"Sire, a number of people are fighting in the street now.
Perhaps we should call someone to break this up."
The King was too lazy even to look.
You can guess what he said.
"Never mind.
It's not our problem."

Now soldiers arrived on the scene.
At first they tried to break up the fighting.
But when they heard the cause of the fight
Some sided with the cat's owner.
Others sided with the dog's owner.
Soon the soldiers too had joined the fight.

With the soldiers involved, the fight erupted into civil war.
Houses were burned down.
People were harmed.
And the palace itself was set afire and burned to the ground.
The King and his Adviser stood surveying the ruins.
"Perhaps," said the King,
"I was wrong?
Perhaps the drop of honey WAS our problem."

A tale from Burma and Thailand retold by Margaret Read MacDonald in Peace Tales

How many situations have we said are not our problem??
Eventually anything can be your problem if it is allowed to get out of hand.

Advice from a Three Year Old
There was once a famous artist who decided that he wanted to study the works of Buddha and attain enlightenment. He thought that the best way to do this was to seek the most famous and wisest teacher and ask him, "What was the most important thing that Buddha taught?"

The artist traveled to the other side of the world to find the teacher he sought. When at last he found the teacher, he asked him, "What was the most important thing that Buddha taught?"

"Do not harm anyone and only do good," was the teacher's immediate response.

"What?" shouted the indignant artist. "You are the most famous of teachers! You are supposed to be wise beyond your years! And this is all you can tell me? A three year old could have told me the same thing!"

The teacher, who had sat quietly through the entire speech, looked at the artist and said, "A three year old could have said the same thing but it is a very difficult thing to practice, even for one as old as myself."
(A Zen tale retold by LLL, Storyteller)

The Animals Reform Meetin'

Long time gone, there was a big gatherin' of animals and fowls and birds that got together to talk about everybody behaving better.
Instead of talkin' about how to improve things, everyone started talkin' about how other folks were doin' bad things.

Brer Hyena complained that Brer Buzzard was always gettin' to eat first.
Then Brer Wildcat complained that the mice and rats were right troublesome.
Though everyone knew how much he liked to eat mice and rats.
Then Brer Tiger up and started moanin' about how troublesome rabbits were.

Now right then, Old Brer 'Coon just couldn't stand all the fussin' and he called the meetin' to order.
"Friends" he said, " we all have got to do a lot better or we're goin' to end up bein' in a really bad way. What do y'all think about us tryin' to reform ourselves?"

Brer Tiger jumped right up and hollered "I'm all for reform."
"I seen Brer 'Coon stealin' corn almost every night and it has to stop!"

Well then, Sis Cow chimed in with, " I'm for reform too. I want y'all to know that Brer Tiger has got the blood of my young'uns in his mouth, and it's got to stop!"
Brer Elephant stepped in to say his bit, "Look who's talkin'! Sis Cow is eatin' up all the grass and leavin' none for us Elephants."
Brer Wolf shouted, "Men are goin' around usin' knives and guns! It just ain't safe no more to go after'em."

Now at that point, Old Brer 'Coon tried to call the meetin' to order again."Look y'all, we gotta start gettin' less complaints and get more reform! Now who's got somethin' positive to suggest?"

Well, Brer Deer jumped on up and said that all the animals had to stop eatin' meat.
Brer Wolf said "No that don't make no sense, what we need is for all the animals to stop eatin' grass."
Sis Chicken started cacklin' and said" No, no, no! Y'all have all missed the point. What we need is to kill all the snakes."
To which Brer Fox shouted, "Hey, I rent my cave to the snakes! What we have to do is kill all the worms."
Now y'all know the birds didn't like that! They figured they would starve if all the worms were killed.

And so the arguin' continued.
Every animal tryin' to keep what was good for him and get rid of what his neighbor wanted.

At long last, Old Brer 'Coon stood up and said "That's enough! What we need to know is if any of you folks are willin' to agree to give up somethin' you like for yourself. If ya are then say so, now."

He waited. But nobody said a word. They just sat there so quiet that ya could have heard a tater growin'.
"This is sure 'nough a sad and sinful world we are livin' in," said Brer 'Coon. "Everybody is just findin' fault with everybody else. I say, it's time to quit this meetin' and go back to your own homes."
Old Brer 'Coon shook his head and said, "You can begin charity next door. But if you want to reform, it's got to begin at home."

And that's all I have to say about that!!

An AfricanAmerican/Southern Tale retold by LLL,Storyteller

Holding Up the Sky
One day an elephant saw a hummingbird lying flat on its back on the ground.
The bird's tiny feet were raised up into the air.

"What on earth are you doing, Hummingbird?" asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied, "I have heard that the sky might fall today. If that should happen,
I am ready to do my bit in holding it up."

The elephant laughed and mocked the tiny bird.

"Do you think those little feet could hold up the sky?"

"Not alone," admitted the hummingbird.
"But each must do what he can. And this is what I can do."

From Three Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald pg 145

Love, Laughter, Peace and Blessings to you!

Advice from a Three Year Old or WWBD?
(What Would Buddha Do?)

Late last night as I was looking through a book of stories, this story caught my attention.
I thought it would make a good addition this blog.
Apparently my subconscious loved the story because even in my sleep and in my first waking moments the story was still with me.
So I have decided to "exorcise" it quickly.


There was once a famous artist who decided that he wanted to study the works of Buddha and attain enlightenment. He thought that the best way to do this was to seek the most famous and wisest teacher and ask him, "What was the most important thing that Buddha taught?"

The artist traveled to the other side of the world to find the teacher he sought. When at last he found the teacher, he asked him, "What was the most important thing that Buddha taught?"

"Do not harm anyone and only do good," was the teacher's immediate response.

"What?" shouted the indignant artist. "You are the most famous of teachers! You are supposed to be wise beyond your years! And this is all you can tell me? A three year old could have told me the same thing!"

The teacher, who had sat quietly through the entire speech, looked at the artist and said, "A three year old could have said the same thing but it is a very difficult thing to practice, even for one as old as myself."
(A Zen tale retold by LLL, Storyteller)


Yes, this teeny little story has been stuck in my head all night and half the day. Why? Aside from the fact that I like stories, I think that it's because it's so simple a truth…….but not so simple to practice.
Makes you think.

There once lived a great warrior.
Despite his advancing years, he was still able to defeat all challengers.
As his reputation continued to grow and spread throughout the land, many students came to study under him.

One day, a young warrior whose reputation was on the rise, arrived at the older warriors' village.
He had decided that he would be the first man to defeat the great master.

The young warrior was known for two skills.
One was his great strength and the second was his uncanny ability to spot and exploit his opponents weakness.
His strategy was to wait for his opponent to make the first move, thereby revealing his weakness and then strike with great strength and speed.

The older warrior, willingly accepted the challenge of the younger man, although all of his students advised against it.

As the battle began, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master.
He threw dirt at the master and spit at him.

For hours the young warrior verbally assaulted the older warrior with every curse and insult that he had ever heard.
Throughout it all the old warrior stood motionless and serene.

At last, the young warrior was exhausted.
He finally walked away knowing that he had been defeated and feeling very ashamed.

When the young warrior had left, the masters students gathered around him asking questions.(Many were disappointed that the old warrior had not fought.)
"How could you endure his insults?" "What made him go away?"

The master smiled at his students and quietly asked them,
"If someone comes to give a gift, and you do not receive it, to whom does the gift belong?"

A Zen Tale retold by LaurenLanita, Storyteller/Storysinger

Love, Laughter, Peace and Blessings!