Ferdinand

One of my favorite stories is that of Ferdinand, a little bull who was born and lived in Spain.


His story was written and published in 1936, but his message is as pertinent today as it was almost 80 years ago.  It has been listed as one of the top 40 children's books of all times.  It's a wonderful story, full of truth and beauty.


Here's Ferdinand's story in a nutshell:


"All the other little bulls he lived with would run and jump and butt their heads together, but not   Ferdinand.  He liked to sit just quietly and smell the flowers.  He had a favorite spot out in the pasture under a cork tree.  It was his favorite tree and he would sit in its shade all day and smell the flowers."
I like that about Ferdinand.  He marched to the beat of  his own drummer.  He liked the other little bulls.  He was their friend.  But he just didn't like to do all that rough and tumble stuff.  He was just content with his own quiet little world where he could sit and enjoy the beauty of nature.


"Ferdinand's mother saw that he was not lonesome, and because she was an understanding mother, even though she was a cow, she let him just sit there and be happy."
What a mom.  She understood her little boy.  He wasn't lonely; he was happy!  She encouraged his uniqueness, not succumbing to the  ever-present peer pressure...the competition...that seems to pervade the world of parents-raising-children.  She loved him with an unconditional love that allowed him to be just who he was, without judgment or interference.  It was based on her hard-wired mother-love that God gives and that listening moms hear with their instincts.  Kudos to mama cow!




The story goes on:  it is time for the annual bull fights in Madrid, and all the other now-grown-up bulls wanted to be picked to fight the matador.  They had grown up fighting each other, butting and sticking each other with their horns. But not Ferdinand.  He had grown up, too, but was still content...happy to just sit under his tree and smell the flowers.  He had no desire whatsoever to fight anyone or anything.




One day five men with funny hats came to pick the biggest, fastest, roughest bull.  "All the other bulls ran around snorting and butting, leaping and jumping so that the men would think that they were very very strong and fierce and pick them."  But not Ferdinand.  "He knew that they wouldn't pick him, and he didn't care.  So he went out to his favorite cork tree to sit down."


Instead of plopping down on the soft, green grass, he sat down on a bumble bee!  The bee did what bees do when someone sits on them:  STING!  And it HURT!  "Ferdinand jumped up with a snort...ran around puffing and snorting, butting and pawing the ground as if her were crazy."
It just so happened that the five men in the funny hats saw him and were overjoyed!  They had found their fierce bull!  "Just the one for the bull fights in Madrid!  So they took him away for the bull fight day..."


Madrid was alive with flags waving, bands and a parade, with all the hoop-la and atmosphere of a Neyland Stadium on game-day..."lovely ladies had flowers in their hair...the Matador, the proudest of all -- he thought he was very handsome and bowed to the ladies.  He had a red cape and a sword and was supposed to stick the bull last of all."


And...the bull  "Ferdinand the Fierce" ...ran into the ring, and everybody screamed and applauded because the fight was about to begin; and they would get to see the mean bull snort and paw and butt, sticking his horns around.


"But not Ferdinand.  When he got to the middle of the ring, he saw the flowers in all the lovely ladies' hair and he just sat down quietly and smelled."  He wouldn't fight nor be fierce.  He just sat there!
Good ole Ferdinand.  Being himself.  Not caving.  Not caring.  No matter what.  Even when the Matador and his friends got mad, madder, maddest...because they couldn't show off and "win" over their opponent in front of all the people.


So...they took Ferdinand home.  "And for all I know he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly.  He is very happy." 


There are lots of lessons to be learned from Ferdinand's story:  how to mother, how to treat others, how to cope with peer pressure, how to be ourselves, how to be content...
Ah, the life of peace and contentment.  Something we all desire.  When we find ourselves in the midst of life, with all its pressures, problems, and stress:  some great big issues,  some little, some annoying, some life-changing...some life-threatening.  When feeling overwhelmed and under-equipped; when we would like to run away for just awhile... to refresh ourselves, recharge our batteries...We might just learn a lesson from our friend Ferdinand and just sit in the shade of a tree and relax.


It doesn't come naturally for some of us.  We are more like the majority of bulls:  busy running around, sometimes snorting, sometimes fighting not with horns or paws but with thoughts, words, opinions, solutions, on and on...getting nowhere, just adding to our worries and angst.


How about trying the quiet approach of being still...listening...finding peace and contentment through meditation, prayer, reading, studying, trusting.  The problems may not go magically away.  But by taking on a new attitude, we can better roll-with-the-flow; we can cope; we can do what needs to be done and come out at the other side with perhaps some scars and bandaids but no mortal wounds. We can survive and even thrive, with the help of others and our Best Friend who never leaves us nor forsakes us.


And a big thanks to Ferdinand for being you and for showing us a better way.  We may just flop down underneath your tree with you and be happy!