Baby Polar Bears
Value: Helping the Poor
The one thing Pudgy and the older baby polar bears he played with loved to do is
explore. Sometimes their moms and dads let them go out in a pack and explore the
many coves and hills that made up their beautiful polar world. They made sure to
stick together mostly but often split up in small packs of two to explore
several coves at a time. That often turned into a game of hunt and catch with
the smaller packs attacking each other playfully and wrestling and sometimes
falling into the frigid ocean as they played. They loved the cold water and it
made them even more playful.
Pudgy really liked being with his friends, Boris, Hector and Philippe and
playing all day while the adults did whatever it is that adults do. One day they
had found a whole area of coastline that they had not explored so they were very
excited. Suddenly as Pudgy and Boris were playing tag in the water, they heard
Hector hell out with excitement “HEY LOOK WHAT I FOUND!”
All of the baby bears ran as fast as they could to his voice. Pudgy’s feet kept
slipping on the ice and he would bounce on his fat belly and the get up but he
was used to that. That was how he ran. All of them stopped and just gasp at what
Hector had found. He was standing on the edge of a small cove that was almost
completely hidden from the sea or other inlets around it and the fish were so
plentiful, they were almost jumping onto the shore to be eaten. Boris was
standing over a huge stack of fish he had already pulled out for his snack. He
looked up and smiled and then yelled “WELL COME ON IN!”
The boys went wild fishing and catching the biggest, fattest fish and eating as
fast as they could as thought this paradise was going to disappear any second.
Soon they were lying on the side of the water moaning for being so full. They
napped and got back to their families before they were missed. For the next
week, the four happy polar bears snuck off to their secret cove and stuffed
themselves full on the amazing abundance of fish in that cove. To a polar bear,
an unlimited quantity of fish is like unlimited money or gold is to humans so
you can imagine how much they wanted to keep it all for themselves.
On the eighth day of the feast, finally as they lay there groaning, Philippe
said, “You know, I don’t feel right keeping this to ourselves. Our parents work
so hard to hunt for food for us and when I get home, I am not even hungry any
more. I know all of our parents are pretty rich but maybe we should share this
with our families.
“I think we should share it with the poor families in our community.” Philippe
suddenly announced. “You know Georgio's mom? She is raising 10 cubs herself and
her husband was killed by that fishing trawler so it’s hard for her to find
enough fish. I want to share with them.” Quietly Pudgy thought that was a good
idea but the other bears got very upset.
“All those cubs will eat it all gone and there will be none left for us!” Hector
worried.
“They can have our scraps but they shouldn’t get the best. They are poor. They
wouldn’t know what to do with all this wealth. They would just waste it.” Boris
added and they threw snowballs at Philippe for such a dumb idea. Pudgy felt bad
for now defending Philippe who had to take that abuse all alone. All the way
home, they taunted him when finally Pudgy spoke up.
“I don’t think we know best about this. Let’s consult King Marcos. He will know
what to do.” He advised.
King Marcos was the wise head of the polar bear community and it was well known
he would help them see what God would have them do with the fortune. Boris and
Hector knew that their parents were on some committees with King Marcos so they
would advise him that the wealthy deserve this amazing discovery and that the
poor should just have the left overs. The day came for the little bears to go in
and see King Marcos but the rest were all scared so they made Pudgy go in and
tell him what they found. When he came out, all of the little bears were on fire
with curiosity but all Pudgy said was. “I just told him what we found. I told
him both sides of our talks about what to do with it all and he just thanked me
and said he would decide before the Polar Bear Council this Friday.
The Polar Bear council was where King Marcos gathered every single bear in the
community and told them of his recent decisions, news that concerns the
community and his rulings. The meeting went on and on and on and the four baby
bears were so bored but they stayed to hear his decision.
“And now I want to tell you of four baby bears who are setting an example of how
to serve God and their fellow bears.” The king finally announced. “These four
bears found a treasure trove of fish, enough to feed all of us for many
generations to come. They did not hoard it for themselves but they want to share
it with all of us. Come up here boys.” He said signaling to the four little
bears to join him on the flat rise where he did his announcements.
“These four baby bears have given their find, which they could have kept hidden
for themselves, to the community and it is my decision that the first to visit
the cove will be the poorest amongst us. I decided this because this is what our
great God who created all living things would want and I know that in their
hearts, these wonderful boys want to serve God more than anything. They have
truly brought a miracle from God to us and God will reward them mightily.” The
roar of approval that went up from all the bears in the community was
thunderous. Each baby polar bear could look out and see their families and see
them beam with pride for them.
All of the boys were blushing but when Pudgy looked over at Hector and Boris, he
knew that in their hearts they were both unhappy with the decision but also
embarrassed because they were being praised for their love of the poor but they
secretly didn’t want to serve. The meeting ended and the four little bears met
privately.
“I am sorry I didn’t encourage us to give the fish to the poor.” Boris said.
“Pudgy, you and Philippe were right. We don’t deserve these praises and yet
somehow we feel proud that it turned out this way.”
“Its ok Boris” a voice came from behind them and King Marcos had walked up and
put his huge paws on their heads to give them some pats of appreciation. “Even
if you had your doubts, you did the right thing. And because you overcame
selfishness to serve God, your sacrifice is even more wonderful. Forget your
sins and praise God that you are going to be a good little polar bear from this
day forward.”
And from that day forward all of the little bears were the best citizens of the
community and they knew that even better than the fish, the episode at the cove
taught them how to be humble and know God’s heart for the poor and that lesson
was more valuable than all the wealth in the universe.