Parable of the Bee

A Bee, a Dog, and a Man were looking at a flower.

"Isn't that beautiful," said the Bee. It's such a pretty shade of violet.”

"That’s not violet," said the Man. “It’s yellow. Are you blind?"

"Is that yellow?” asked the Dog. “I’ve always called it ‘gray.’”

Bee: But it IS a flower, right?

  Man: Yep.

     Dog: Yep.

Bee: And I can still get pollen from it, right?

  Man: I guess so.

     Dog: I guess so.

Bee: So what does it matter what color it is?

  Man: Because you’re missing the full beauty it has to offer.

     Dog: What’s ‘violet’?

Bee: But I’m incapable of seeing it any other way.

  Man: So am I.

     Dog: So am I.

Bee: And I have to see it this way in order to find it and collect my pollen.

  Man: And I have to see it this way in order to coordinate it with my garden.

     Dog: I wish I could see it either way.

Then an Ant joined them and said, “What are you all talking about?”

“The nature of this flower,” said the Bee.

“Why, that’s not a flower,” said the Ant. “That’s a tree.”

[2013-11-19]

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