Elephants once roamed freely over a vast proportion of the earth’s surface. Each elephant was a walking history and model of all elephants, a perfect copy of the idea of elephant, or the ideal elephant. In their disturbing magnitude, elephants still evoke a sense of awe in the human. It is not just their size which is awe-inspiring, however. It is their power, their demeanor, and a certain aura that feels a bit alien to the human mind.

The bones of long-dead elephants are gathered in enormous elephant graveyards. Imagine how big the skeletons of such departed ones must be! When an elephant dies, the flesh departs, decays, is reabsorbed into the earth, yet the bones remain. Where then is the elephant? If you say, “He is dead,” what or who is the “he” you are talking about?

Once there was an elephant called Tom. He had been named by his human master, and he responded to the name “Tom” when he was called. He worked every day pulling tree roots from fields, felling whole trees, even turning the water wheel. At sundown, his master would take him down to the stream for a bathe and an enormous drink.

One day, very unexpectedly, the man died in the field in the middle of the day. The elephant came and stood over the body for a long time. By the force of its simple presence, the dogs and vultures and other carnivores were kept at bay.

Several days went by. The elephant was becoming severely dehydrated, but he did not leave his master’s side. Then a neighboring farmer came by and saw what had happened. The elephant allowed the man to take his master’s body away, then moved ponderously off toward the stream, where he was finally able to slake his tremendous thirst and roll in the mud.

After this, the elephant became wild, foraging through fields and gardens, creating havoc wherever he went. No one knew how to stop him. Eventually a hunting party was sent out to kill him, but although they lay in wait for several nights, the hunters did not succeed in finding him. They got tired of waiting, gave up, and went home.

The marauding continued, and the elephant was doing a lot of damage to the cultivated crops. People set traps, but the great creature was mysteriously elusive, seeming almost to know when someone was waiting for him with a gun. One night, however, the neighbor who had found the farmer’s body had an idea. He gathered a few friends together, and they set off into the forest very early the next morning. The man had given his friends only one instruction, and that was to call out “Tom! Tom!” steadily as they walked along together.

Just when the men were ready to give up, since their throats were so tired and sore, there was a slow gray movement at the side of the path they were following. The man leading the group gestured for the others to be silent. He said, “Tom! Come here, Tom!” gently, several times. After a moment, the elephant came fully out of cover and stood patiently in the clearing.

The man was able to lead Tom home and to re-train him to the harness. Tom resumed his old work for his new master, and seemed contented, giving no more trouble to anyone.

Each being, each individual member, of any species is a copy of the perfect idea of that type. But in the higher-intelligenced animals, each such copy also knows itself to be unique. Each copy requires acknowledgement of its individuality, of who it is separately within the larger community of its species.

In the human species, the acknowledgement and recognition of individuality is really vital. Denied that acknowledgement, people become psychotic, disfunctional, suicidal or dangerous – much as a rogue elephant might be. And, like Tom, their sense of self-worth demands useful work, requires a place in the work of the world.

Cosmonauts find when they are isolated from all of humanity that they have some difficulty retaining their sense of purpose. Looking out at the world so far below them, it is difficult to associate with the work of that world. Coming back to earth is a little like being reborn, rejoining the community of man.

Germs and viruses that give colds and other illnesses to people have an environment that is entirely perfect for them – humid, temperature-controlled, self-contained, aerated, and so on. They take full advantage of a set of circumstances that they did not create, and would have absolutely no ability to understand. They simply fulfill their function once they are placed in their proper environment.

This principle pertains from lowest to highest – from virus to clam to fish to crocodile to giraffe to monkey to dog to elephant to dolphin to man. Yet men and women and children can and often do choose not to do service. Why is this? It is often because they do not know who they are. Although they have names, they cannot associate themselves with a meaningful set of tasks appropriate to themselves. What’s necessary but rejected is a masterful voice that calls them lovingly and softly by name and shows them what to do.

The more confused and uncertain you are, the more important it is to ask, pray and listen for the inner voice that knows who you are, and that can help you find your way out of the forest back to contentment and to a place where you can live a meaningful life. If you are patient with yourself and faithful – knowing that you will be helped – your name will be called. For God is always calling you.

Life sparkles with Life. Spirits shimmer over the elephant graveyards. Voices call through the woods. And you are always heading safely home.