I don't know about the rest of you, but I grew up watching "The Adventures of the Little Prince", a Japanese series based on the book. In it, the Little Prince often traveled to Earth to help people. During the 1980s, the English-language version was aired in the U.S. on Nickelodeon. I actually managed to put my hands on the first "installment" on an old video cassette.
My mom grew up with the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and I actually own her copy, which was a first english language edition, published in 1943 so she would have owned it her entire life. It is a very precious story. I am in the process of re-reading the story, as I have not visited it in many years.
The reason for this comes from reading the book "Bread and Water, Wine and Oil" by Archimandrite Meletios Webber. In chapter 2, he quotes "The Little Prince", referring to some thing that Metropolitan Anthony Bloom had to say regarding a certain passage in the book. He talks about a fox that the Little Prince encounters while he is visiting earth. The Little Prince is feeling very unhappy when he comes across a fox. He asks the fox to play with him because he is so unhappy, and the fox replies that he cannot, as he is not tame. The Prince thinks of this for a moment and then asks what the word "tame" means. The fox explains that it means to "establish ties" and that it is "an act too often neglected." The fox goes on to explain that as things are now, the little prince is nothing more than another boy to the fox, much like the thousands of other boys in the world, and that it is the same for the little prince. Thus, they have no need of each other. "But," the fox continues," if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world, and to you, I shall be unique in all the world." Eventually the little prince says that he wants to tame the fox but doesn't have the time. There are a "great many things to understand." The fox replies, "One only understands the things that one tames", and goes on to say that men have no more time to understand anything, and he asks the little prince again to tame him. This is where Fr. Meletios Webber quotes Metropolitan Anthony Bloom:
Have another look at the passage in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery where the fox describes how the little prince should learn to tame him - he must be very patient, sit a little way off and look at him out of the corner of his eye and say nothing, for words cause misunderstandings. And every day he will sit a little closer and they will become friends. Put "God" in the place of the fox and you will see loving, chaste shyness, a diffidence which offers but does not prostitute itself: (this is my favorite part) God does not accept a glib, smooth relationship, nor does He impose His presence - He offers it, but it can only be received on the same terms, those of a humble, loving heart, when two timidly, shyly seeking people reach to each other because of a deep mutual respect and because both recognize the holiness and the extraordinary beauty of reciprocal love.
That chapter (In "Bread and Water, Wine and Oil") ends with the following words: "The closer we are to God, the less alienated we are from other people." As has been the case with some of my friends who have already read this entire book, I am finding it challenging, but tremendously enlightening. I HIGHLY reccomend it to all of you.
I also reccomend picking up a copy of "The Little Prince". When the little prince finally says goodbye to the fox, the fox shares his secret: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
I mentioned roses earlier too...the little prince has a rose on his home planet, B-612 which he takes care of, has loved and nurtured. The fox uses her example in explaining about "taming". He says that the little prince's rose is unique to him because of all the time and effort he has put into her, and reccomends that the little prince goes back to look at the roses he saw on earth earlier, saying that he will see them differently now. The fox tells him, "It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes her so important." We can most assuredly apply all of this to our own relationship with God, but also to each other. We are all friends. Some are closer than others. It is the time we spend cultivating these friendships that makes them so worthwhile.
"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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