This post could easily be a part of a larger article called "Dr. Seuss for Grown-Ups". As a big fan of Dr. Seuss (as most teachers are), I see a lot of life lessons in his works. As a Christian, I see everything through that world view. So let me explain five valuable lessons, I see in Bartholomew and the Oobleck; why I used it every year at Thanksgiving time to teach "theme" or main idea to my 1st through 4th grade students; and why the story means so much to me.
Bartholomew and the Oobleck begins with Bartholomew a young page boy listening to Old King Derwin of Didd tell him how bored he is with the sun, the rain, the fog and the snow. He really hates all the things that come out of the sky. He is determined to get something new no matter how much the page boy tries to tell him otherwise. The king says he will get something different and no one can tell a king what he can and can't do. Bartholomew is the essence of common sense reasoning though he is not even a teen and the king is the essence of arrogance and self-will. Bartholomew says that even kings cannot rule the sky.
The king beckons the wicked magicians and they are determined to make something new to come out of the sky. They name it "Oobleck". It turns out that Oobleck is green, sticky, globby and is growing larger by the moment. It gets larger and larger and everyone who touches it gets stuck to this insidious stuff. At first the king is delighted and wants to have a holiday in its honor. Soon it is apparent that the whole kingdom will be ruined and everyone eventually will be destroyed by its all pervasive presence .
Bartholomew is running around trying to warn the people when he remembers the king and eventually finds him stuck to his royal throne in mounds of Oobleck. King Derwin is trying to remember the magic words to get him and his people out of the royal mess that he created. What can be done about Oobleck?
King Derwin is me, you and Lady Eve and Oobleck is sin. Here is Lesson Number One. In our pride, we want something more or something better than what God has given to us. The result of being ungrateful is Sin with a capital S. Lesson Two is that when we are ungrateful, we are can lose the things that really matter.
When Bartholomew enters the throne room and sees the king covered in Oobleck, he talks to him like no one ever spoke to him before. Bartholomew represents to me the Wisdom of God's Word. He tells the the king to stop looking for magic words and start saying a few simple words like "I am sorry" and "It's all my fault". Here is Lesson Number Three: when you are wrong, say you are sorry and not just say it but mean it. (Christians call it repentance.) At least say you are sorry, even if the solution is not in sight.
It was as though God heard him and the Oobleck (ie, sin) went away. The lovely sun came out and the former things were restored. Then, King declared a national holiday in honor of the four perfect things from the sky: the things that God created in the beginning. Lesson Number Four is be thankful and appreciate what God has given you.
Lesson Number Five is a combination of the other four lessons. A lack of gratitude is a sin that leads to many other sins. It is a result of pride. It leads to horrible life messes and repentance is the only way out. Our loving God leads us out to repentance. A truly repentant person is full of gratitude!
Read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and see if you do not agree that it has a lot to do with Thanksgiving. More importantly, read God's Word. Let's be truly thankful or we may lose the things that we have. Have a meaningful Thanksgiving Day and let being grateful be a way of life.
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