Pause and Think

Over the last several weeks I have tried to draft an article concerning the Governor’s proposed budget. However, it has been difficult to concentrate since so much has been happening on the national (and international) scene! From Immigration, to Trade, to a Wall and everything in between, it has been a non-stop plethora of things for everyone to have an opinion on. And boy does everyone have an opinion! Social Media as well as good ol’ Regular Media is full of “experts” on both sides saying how wrong the other side is. It can be exhausting – simply because it is so difficult to escape it. It has really made me think more and more about one of my favorite poems – and I want to share it with you. For some, you may know it well and some may have never read it before. Either way, I hope you read it – either for the first time, or for the first time again – and pause and think about it in light off all that is going on.
I promise I will give my thoughts about our budget soon.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
” ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!