Once upon a time, before agriculture was invented, the world was a place of vast fields of colors. Instead of the tumultuous and cacophonous civilization of the humans, there was the kingdom herbs and flowers. All these plants used to live in peace and harmony. The existence of one did not necessarily mean death of others. Rather, they facilitated life for each other.
This realm of happiness was even more energized by the insects that worked as messengers of love between the flowers. Little streams that flowed temporarily on these fields served as long-range mass transport vehicles for the plants, so that they were able to move to distant and desolate places and could convert those places to abodes of beauty and plenty.
As these days of prosperity went by, the humans discovered that one, among other herbs, was very useful as food: the wheat. It was not only useful but also could be stored during the winter time.
After this realization, a mass murder broke out on the flower fields. Humans wanted to open up new area for growing more wheat. With the increase in the availability of food, number of humans multiplied quickly, and that meant further terror on the fields that were once filled with love and beauty.
With the kingdom of flowers and herbs in peril, their messengers, the insects, were also fatally injured. Their numbers started to decrease. And the rain-triggered streams that were, once, the transport vehicles for everyone were blocked by gigantic walls to water the wheat fields.
In the face of this disaster, herbs and flowers plunged into grief. Their colors withered, their scents faded, and their bodies became ever weaker. Nevertheless, their old friend, wheat, didn't seem to be bothered at all, given that it was spreading all around the world, and was enjoying a glory never seen before.
Despite the withering colors of others, wheat was adorned in colors. Unlike the fading scents of others, wheat was embellished with jewelries of salt and sugar.
Even the mighty animals were subjugated before the dominion of wheat. They were killed, and were prepared to be appear along with the wheat on special occasions.
Poor plants did not have arms to fight with nor legs to escape. So, they prayed in destitute. But their prayers were somewhat confused. It wasn't that they wanted their old friend to be cursed, but at the same time they wanted a more fair sharing of resources for a peaceful co-existence of all, as in the old days.
Years passed by with such prayers and decline of other plants in the face of ever expanding glory of wheat. It was thought that the prayers were not heard, and the plants were left to perish in oblivion. What was not realized was that the humans were growing ever more obese, and their health was declining rapidly due to over consumption of wheat.
In the face of diseases and death, humans realized the value of a more balanced nutrition and the importance of other herbs and flowers as medicine. So, they gradually became the love messengers and transport vehicles for different plants globally. Travels that were once impossible by means of streams were enabled by the conversion of humans to servants.
Soon, wheat also came to its senses and abandoned its false pride. The motto of its past was "if you are not everywhere, you are nowhere"; but now, wheat would add "if there aren't others around you, you are no one".
Nevertheless, the slow pace of change among humans and the enormity of the size of the problem called for more action. To accelerate the pace, the creatures of the world were bestowed with more heat that could transform the frozen lands of the past to fields of color. That heat could be used to obtain fresh water to irrigate deserts, if so wanted. But the same heat could seed the destruction of the entire planet, if not handled properly.
But for this delicate challenge to turn to an opportunity, humans had to change their exclusive spreading on the planet so that their presence should not mean the destruction of others but flourishing of all. For this to happen, though, humans had to learn some lessons, just like wheat.
Was this possible given that humans were at the peak of their dominion over the planet? It was possible but not likely. Maybe a very effective teacher could do it! So, the illuminated few among the humans along with the plants and animals gave themselves to the prayers asking for that teacher whose touch could animate the dead, whose breathe could heal and whose words could enlighten!
