Finding our way back home - the wisdom of Hansel and Gretel
by: Bruce Conway / lightman@lightwatcher.com

In today's uncertain times, we are frantically searching for solutions to the impending problems that confront us. These answers are often right in front of us, if we could just see through the clear eyes of a child.

In the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, the impoverished parents of the two small children ponder an awful decision. Faced with a 'great dearth' in the land, they decide to do the unthinkable, to abandon their offspring in the wilderness rather than face scarcity and starvation themselves.

As the children hear the parents deciding their fate, Hansel slips outdoors, and fills his pockets with small white stones. Returning to the cottage, he reassures his sister that all will be well.

In the morning the father leads the children far into the deep forest. Certain that he will never see the children again, that " the wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces." he abandons them to their fate.

What the woodcutter failed to notice is that along the path into the dark woods, Hansel has left a trail of the small white pebbles. Hours later the children follow the path of white pebbles through the darkness, and the children are easily able to find their way back home.

Although this is not the end of their trials and tribulations within the story, these two clever children are able to preserve themselves by utilizing foresight, available resources, and by preparing for the impending emergency. They eventually save themselves, become enriched by their experiences, and live happily ever after. They survive and profit instead of being victimized by their fearful, dysfunctional parents.

If we are wise enough to consider and apply the priceless metaphors hidden within this Grimm tale, we may find solutions to many of the dilemmas that currently confront us.

Today we are much like Hansel and Gretel facing many immediate dangers: a crumbling economy,the scarcity of jobs and resources, the specter of world war, and unethical leaders bent on abandoning us to our fates.

Although we are assured that all is well by our patriarchs, support systems are being systematically removed one-by-one: Our savings, retirements and investments have been plundered. The costs of our food, water and shelter are rising beyond our means. Insurance, drugs and medical care are already out of the reach of many. Public education is crumbling. Our justice system has failed. Governmental 'safety nets' have been shredded. Our basic constitutional rights have been stolen, and we have lost the trust and respect of the world. We are being abandoned and betrayed by those we trusted most.

Many of us have foreseen the coming hard times and have filled our pockets with white stones, so we can find our way safely home. Each pebble symbolizes a tool or method of our deliverance. Each one represents a way that we can find our way out of the dark woods and survive the coming years. These are stones of empowerment, symbolic of ways to retain what is best about us, and to preserve these ways for future generations.

The white stones represent the methods of living that are sustainable, ethical and good. Some represent traditional ways and some are new. These are paths home that honor the earth, respect the spirit, support one another and foster cooperation. These are ways support that good and oppose evil.

By filling out pockets with the white stones of ethics, spirit, preparedness, self reliance and sustainability, we become like little Hansel. He is confident when he reassures his younger sibling "Be comforted, dear little sister, and sleep in peace, God will not forsake us."

by Bruce Conway

http://www.lightwatcher.com/
http://www.lightwatcher.com/preparenow/prepare.html