A 'We' Story

It begins at he far southern tip of South America in the early days of Spanish Exploration. Certain sailors and explorers for Spain have such difficulties with their ship that they feel the need to stay in that place for a time. They see the place as cold, bare, and windy, but there is just enough wood and water for their needs.

In this land they find people. They find men, women, and children living together there. The explorers see a very poor people, an impoverished people. The seem to have no towns, crops, or industries. It appears that they may be godless. Rather than houses the have low windbreaks and they are nearly naked. The men of the ship wonder how these people can live in this hard land. Yet the people of the land seem well formed and healthy.

Soon the people from the ship find that they can barter with these lowly people for food-stuff. They also begin to see the land people as lazy. They spend much of their day sitting around and talking or listening to each other. The people of the ship say to each other that there is no wonder that the land people have so little. They say that the people of the land sit around talking, Rather than working to better themselves. In their hearts some of the people of the ship feel envy of the others' ability to sit and talk.

The ship people believe that if they have to stay in this land they will surely die before their time. Most of the ship people have always worked and they were working hard now to end their suffering in this land. How did the land people live here and spend their time talking while they, the ship people, worked hard all day and feared they would die here ir they did not.

In time, the sailors made their ship ready and sailed away. Somehow, two of their number were left in the land. Of these two one learned to speak with the people. He joined in their talk. The other despised them and their talk. The later died.

In more time, another ship came. Some of the sailors on that ship knew of the two who had been left. There were a few who knew even the towns and families of the two who had been left. They were sad to hear of the death of and pleased and surprised at the life of the other. The one with life was pleased to be with those of the ship and also seem much at home among those of the land.

In the company of his countrymen and comrades, the one alive left the land. They noted tears in his eyes as they left. The shipmates of the live one asked him how he had managed to live among those despicable poor and lazy people. They asked him if it were true that the people of the land were poor because they were so lazy that they sat around and talked instead of working to better themselves. They wanted to know if he were able to trick them or become their king.

The live one seemed unable to answer. But finally he did say that he had come to love and respect the people of that land and that there was a wonderful power in their listening and talk. They had a powerful way of talking that had a gentility in it he tried to explain. His shipmates looked sad and shook their heads a bit. They said that he had had a terrible ordeal, but would get over it in time.

The live one later tried to tell those aboard who knew him best that the people of the land did not feel themselves to be poor or despicable, rather they were quietly proud of themselves and abilities. He told them that their talk enabled them to cooperate in powerful ways. His friends looked at him with large eyes and said, "Those, poor, ignorant, lazy, godless, savages!" "No,' said the live one, "they are powerful, kind people who speak of godly things!" His friends thought it best to speak no more, or to speak of other things.

When the live one left the sea to stay mostly by his home-fires, he sometimes spoke a bit of people in a far land who spoke to excellent effect. He tried to explain the power in their way of conversing, but was seldom understood.

He explained that their talk enabled them to easily share the location of food gathering sites and do so completely, frankly, without jealousy. They told each other not only the location of these places, but also of their size and the state of the life within them. So, they all knew when to gather and the sustainable amount to gather. Their talk enabled them to trust each other and to nurture the life around them to their mutual benefit. Their listening led them to an understanding of each other's needs. He would tell his listeners that those people were able to live in their land in happy health because of their talk. Some few listeners began to ask questions and gradually to learn some of what they called 'ways-of-nurturing-power-talk.'

It is a lot like the "we" forming dialogue I speak of.