Petunia. Roger Duvoisin. 1950. 32 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence" In the meadow, early one morning, Petunia, the silly goose, went strolling. She ate a bug here, clipped off a clover leaf there, and she picked at the dewdrops on the goldenrod leaves.
Premise/plot: Petunia stars in this classic picture book from 1950. Petunia doesn't like being thought of as a "silly goose." So when Petunia literally stumbles across a book--though she doesn't really know what books are really for--she becomes a proud goose, a very proud goose. Carrying this newfound "wise book" everywhere she goes, Petunia is convinced that she is the wisest and best. Everyone starts coming to her for advice, but, her advice tends to do more harm than good. Petunia--book or not--is a silly goose. After a near-disaster--pride goeth before a fall--Petunia realizes something--the book is for reading. Possessing a book without having read it, without really knowing it, without really experiencing all it has to offer is shortsighted at best, foolish at worst. So Petunia decides...perhaps just perhaps...it's time she learns how to read.
My thoughts: I read this one and instantly saw some spiritual insights or lessons to be learned. Were these insights intentional by the author--maybe, maybe not. But even if they weren't, I think there's much food for thought to be gleaned.
Quotes:
So Petunia picked up the Book, and off she went with it. She slept with it....she swam with it...and, knowing that she was so wise, Petunia also became proud, and prouder, and prouder...so proud that her neck stretched out several notches.
and
Now she saw that there was something written inside the Book which she could not read. So she sat down and thought and thought and thought, until at least she sighed, "Now I understand. It was not enough to carry wisdom under my wing. I must put it into my mind and in my heart. And to do that I must learn to read."
---
There are lessons to be learned indeed from Petunia. It isn't enough to own a Bible, to carry a Bible to church, to nominally say you love the Book. One must "put it into the mind and heart..." and this requires "spiritual eyes" to see and read with. The Bible is meant to be read, known, loved, followed, obeyed, cherished, treasured. It's not a prop. Petunia was proud--without reason, without knowledge. And even if it hurts, one must admit that this can sometimes be the case with christians as well.
One more thing, Petunia also thought the book was "giving" her wisdom--without a single page being opened, without a single page being read. Her advice was coming from her own heart, her own mind. Her "wisdom" which she was proclaiming and so proud of was of her "vain imaginations" if you will. She was a silly goose. Now the book in question is certainly not the book. There's no reason to think Petunia is carrying *that* particular book. But the lesson remains. Just because someone has a Bible as a prop, holding it, waving it around, doesn't necessarily mean that what they're teaching comes from the Book.
© Becky Laney of
Operation Actually Read Bible
