The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times(44)
“Oh yes, and you’ve made me think of a wonderful example,” Jane said with a smile. I sat back in my seat to enjoy more story time.
“It’s something I heard about during one of my visits to China. It’s about two extraordinary men—hang on, I have to look up their names.”
Jane opened her laptop. “Here we are—Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi.” Jane spelled the names for me and then closed her laptop and began a story she obviously loved.
“They live in a small village in rural China and have been friends since they were boys. Haixia was blind in one eye at birth from a cataract and lost sight in the other eye in a factory accident, and when Wenqi was only three years old he lost both his arms when he touched a downed power line. When Haixia lost his sight completely he became really depressed and Wenqi realized that he must find something they could do that would give purpose to Haixia’s life. At that point they were in their mid-thirties.
“I don’t know how long it took Wenqi to think up his plan, but he suddenly got the answer. Both had often talked about how the land around their village had become increasingly degraded since they were young. Quarrying had polluted the rivers, killing fish and other aquatic life, and industrial emissions had polluted the air.
“I can just imagine Wenqi telling his friend that what they should do was plant trees. And I bet Haixia was incredulous at first—how could they do that? They didn’t have any money, and he was blind and Wenqi had no arms. Wenqi had the answer—he would be Haixia’s eyes and Haixia would be his arms.
“They couldn’t afford to buy seeds or saplings, so they decided to clone from branches cut from the trees. Haixia did the cutting while Wenqui directed him to the right place. And they walk from place to place with Haixia holding on to one of Wenqui’s empty sleeves. At first it all went wrong. They were excited they managed to plant about eight hundred cuttings in the first year, but imagine how they felt when spring came and only two of them were alive. The land was simply too dry. At that point Haixia wanted to give up, but Wenqi told him that was not an option—they would just have to find a way to get water to the trees.
“I don’t know how they did that—but, anyway, they did. They planted more cuttings, and this time most of them survived.”
Jane said together they have now planted over ten thousand trees. At first the other villagers were skeptical, she told me, but now they help to take care of those very special trees.
“A documentary was made about them,” Jane said, “and in it I remember Wenqi saying that if they worked together physically, and united spiritually, they could achieve anything. And he said—wait a moment.” Jane opened her laptop again. “Yes, here it is. ‘Though we are limited physically, our spirit is limitless. So let the generation after us, and everyone else, see what two handicapped individuals have accomplished. Even after we’re gone, they will see that a blind man and an armless man have left them a forest.’
“And that,” said Jane, “is a wonderful example of how friendship can give hope to the hopeless. And a marvelous illustration of what can be accomplished by the indomitable human spirit.”
A story from rural China: together, Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi have planted more than ten thousand trees to help heal the degraded and polluted land surrounding their village—a blind man and an armless man. Talk about indomitable spirits. (XINHUA NEWS AGENCY REPORTER, CHINA GLOBAL PHOTO COLLECTION)
“So what you’re saying is that the one person who is determined and sees where to go inspires others so that people then work on a problem together?”
“Yes,” Jane replied. “And the other thing that is really important is to help people realize that they, as individuals, matter. That they each have a role to play. That they were born for a reason.”
“And a sense of meaning is so important for hope and happiness, isn’t it?” I asked.
“It is,” Jane replied. “Without meaning, life is empty and day will follow day, month will follow month, and year will follow year in mindless succession.”
“Those,” I reflected, “are the people who have lost hope.”
“And sometimes it is possible to rouse them from a seemingly meaningless life with a really good story,” Jane said, “one that will reach their hearts and wake them up.”
“Can you give me an example?
“One of my very favorites is fictitious but seems so appropriate now. It is Lord of the Rings.”
“What makes it such an appropriate story for the hopeless?” I asked.
“Because the might the heroes were up against seemed utterly invincible—the might of Mordor, the orcs, and the Black Riders on horses and then on those huge flying beasts. And Samwise and Frodo, two little hobbits, traveling into the heart of danger on their own.”
“Is that an example of the indomitable hobbit spirit?”
Jane laughed. “I think it provides us with a blueprint of how we survive and turn around climate change and loss of biodiversity, poverty, racism, discrimination, greed, and corruption. The Dark Lord of Mordor and the Black Riders symbolize all the wickedness we have to fight. The fellowship of the Ring includes all those who are fighting the good fight—we have to work so hard to grow the fellowship around the world.”
Jane pointed out that the land of Middle-earth was polluted by the destructive industry of that world in the same way that our environment is devastated today. And she reminded me that Lady Galadriel had given Sam a little box of earth from her orchard.