long long ago there was a boy, a very little boy,
who lived among giants, really big and really noisy giants
each year the giants got bigger and bigger,
and the little boy got smaller and on smaller
each year the giants got noisier and noisier,
and the little boy got quieter and quieter
he got so small that the giants could no longer see him
he got so quiet that the giants could no longer hear him
the boy wanted to find his voice
He wanted to be seen
so he began to wander away
from the home of the noisy giants
he did not know where to go
he did not know what to do
not far from the home of the giants was a hidden, magic forest
one night the little boy discovered this hidden, magic forest
when the lonely boy walked in this forest
the stars at night would fall into his head and explode, and he was lonely no longer
in the magic forest,
the hungry boy would scoop up and feast on arms full of fallen leaves, and he was filled
when the thirsty boy held his small cup under the thundering waterfall,
his cup was filled to overflowing, splashing over the brim, and his thirst was quenched
in this forest, there was only one word
and that word was wow
in this forest, there was only one time
and that time was now
in this forest, there was only one thing to do
and that one thing was to bow
in this forest,
there was no how
there was no pow
in this forest,
there was no he, no she, no me
only we and only be
BUT
when the little boy walked out of the forest
and returned to the home of the noisy giants
there was no wild magic
in that world there were many words
in that world there were many times
in that world there were many things to do
in that world there were many me’s
and many he’s and many she’s
many hows and many pows
In that world, there was no wow,
there was no now,
there was no bow,
there was no we,
there was no be
and so the little boy wondered,
could he bring the magic of the wild forest
into that other world
into the home of the noisy giants
and so he pleaded to the stars above,
and he cried out to the fallen leaves,
and he prayed to the thundering waterfall
help me
help me
help me
help me to find a pow
to give me a how
to return to the wow
and live in the now
with only a bow
and only a be
that is not a me
but only a we
Bob wrote this story on a napkin in the desert of Arizona many years ago on a men's gathering with Richard Rohr. A few years later he read this story around a bonfire with another group of men -- as a mythic story of his own childhood.
This story has been made into a children's book and is now available to purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7RVVZLF
Watch this short video to find out what the little boy discovers in the magic forest: