Bringing vision to others lets us see the world better ourselves

By Richard Wagamese

I remember a story told to me a long time ago. It was about a small mouse who wanted to see the world. She was curious and friendly and the desire in her to see how big the world could be was honest and pure. She was a brave mouse.

When she ventured out things got strange right away. The field where she’d grown up was totally familiar. But once she was away from it the world became new smells, new sights, sounds, tastes and sensations. It was wonderful. The mouse was filled with a spirit of a great adventure. She met a frog who told her of a place called the Magic Mountain. It was far away to the west and a very hard journey. But the idea of being able to see something as marvelous as a Magic Mountain filled the mouse with joy and a wild desire.

She ventured out onto a wide plain. There she met a horse who told her that the Magic Mountain was an incredible distance. The horse offered to carry the mouse as far as he was going and helped her get up on his back. From there mouse saw everything.

Later she met a coyote who carried her through gullies and canyons and told her stories about his life on the Great Plains. He spoke of the splendor of the Magic Mountain and how it would always shine in her mind once she saw it. The mouse was very excited.

She was so excited she almost ran into a great, sad beast. It was a buffalo and the buffalo had lost his eyes. The mouse felt great pity and after she’d told the buffalo about wanting to see the Magic Mountain she offered the buffalo her eyes.

Her eyes flew into the buffalo and he could see. But the mouse was blind. The buffalo carried her to where the Magic Mountain rose on the horizon. He told her to jump as high as she could off his back. When she did she became a golden eagle and blessed with incredible vision.

The mouse saw the Magic Mountain. She became an eagle. When we help other people learn to see we change. We get bigger. We become more. Our desire to bring vision to others let’s us see the world better ourselves. In the end, what better gift could there be?