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B4Peace April’s Post – Bartie’s Tail

A date thingy? Ah! Calendar

April 2013
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First of all, let me apologise for my lateness with this months post. I’ve had to deal with a nasty virus that infected my laptop, and am now working off of my son’s old one instead, as mine needs to be repaired. So I’m sorry for that.

have centred this months project around children and involves a competition, with prizes kindly donated by Eric over at Peace Garret (15 copies of his book A Map and a Mule: A Peace Story of Queen Isabel of Portugal).

Eric’s book is for children, so Kozo came up with the following ideas for us:

Publish a post on how to teach children peace. How do we raise children to be peaceful? What do children need to know about peace? How do we teach them what peace means?
Post a children’s story or poem that teaches peace.
Relate a story or experience with children that brings/brought you peace.
Post a peaceful photo or piece of art for/about/featuring children. I like to imagine what photo or piece of art we could put in every child’s room that will create peace.
Post anything about the intersection of children and peace.

If you would like to know more about how to enter, or would simply like to add a post, check out this link for information.

So, here’s my post for April, I hope you’ll like it.

THE TALE OF BARTIE’S TAIL

Once upon a time in a land long ago, there lived a young dinosaur named Bartholomew.
Now Bartie, as his friends liked to call him, had a big problem with his little tail. One day in particular, his mother found him crying.
“Why the tears my son?” she asked.
“My-my tail, momma. Why is it so tiny?” Bartie longed to have a tail like his fathers, and the other dinosaurs were making fun of him again. “Why are the others so mean.”
Poor Bartie just could not understand.
“Now-now my child. Dry your tears and let me explain.”
Bartie wiped and sniffled, flumped to the ground and waited.

“Oh my dear Bartholomew, you must understand that for every wrong there is a right,” his mother told him.
Poor Bartie looked a little puzzled by the answer.
His mother sighed. “Bartholomew, if you could not cry, how would you know how to smile. And if you did not know sorrow, how would you know happiness.”
Bartie thought about this and gazed at his mother.
“It would not matter if you were orange with purple spots, or even if you had a horn, it still would not change who you are.”
Now that did worry Bartie, he neither wanted a horn no more than he wanted to be orange with purple spots.

“But momma, that does not explain why the other dinosaurs make fun of me. Or why my tail is so tiny,” he huffed.
“Bartholomew.” His mother smiled. “Your tail will grow with you. As to the others, well, friends may tease sometimes, it does not mean they do not like you.”
Bartie felt better about his tail and managed a smile.
“See, after tears comes a smile, as with after fighting, there is peace.”
“What is peace?” he asked.
“It can mean many things. Like in the mornings just before the sun breaks the horizon when it is quiet. That is peace. How everyone in this valley works together as one big family despite our differences. The sky-huggers, the water-wallowers, us. We may not look the same, but we live happily together. That, is also peace. And above all, how we learn to forgive. Do not judge your friends so quickly, Bartholomew, be a better dinosaur and find the peace within.”
“I understand now, momma.” And Bartie truly did understand.
“Sleep now my son, tomorrow is a new day.”

Bartie curled up in to a ball and stared peacefully at his tiny tail, knowing it did not matter whether his tail grew as big as his fathers, he would still be Bartie. And his friends, despite their teasing, would still be his friends.