Meeting the Elephant

Mandy looked up from her knitting when Jolena, Charlotte and Mariah came into the room.

"Mandy, we have a question we thought you might help us with," Charlotte said. The other two dolls nodded. "We celebrate each other's special holidays. All of you celebrated Hanukkah with me, and then Mariah and I celebrated Christmas with you, Veronika, Jolena and Billy."

"Yes," Mariah said, "and we all have special holidays in April. We know we will celebrate those special days together, too."

"We know that all these special days have something to do with what we believe about God," Jolena said. "What we don't understand is, why don't all dolls believe the same thing?"

Mandy took off her glasses and put them on top of her head, so they knew she would have a lot to say.

"I can give you my opinion," Mandy said, "but this is something that no one knows for sure. If you asked a question about science (sigh-ence)," Mandy said clearly for them, "I could give you an answer that I know, or we could look it up and find out. This isn't science, though; it's something called religion." She pronounced it again carefully for them, "Ree-lih-juhn. It isn't about what we know for sure and can prove, but what we believe to be true."

Mandy thought for a minute. "I think the best way to explain what I think is to tell you a story I read once," she said.

The dolls love stories, so they settled down to listen to Mandy.

Here is the story Mandy told the other dolls:

Once upon a time, in the Land of the Dolls, there was a magical elephant. All the dolls in the land wanted to find out about the magical elephant. They came from all over the Land of the Dolls to learn what they could. They brought their sleep masks with them, because they had heard that no one was allowed to see this wonderful being.

Only one doll at a time was allowed to go into the room where the magical elephant was, so they waited patiently for their turns. (Dolls are good at being patient.) When each doll went into the room, she or he had to feel around to find the elephant.
Some of the dolls touched the elephant's side. "This feels like a wall," they would say. "The magical elephant is like a wall."

Some of the dolls touched one of the tusks of the wonderful creature. "This is very sharp, like a knife," they said. "The magical elephant is like a knife."

Other dolls found the trunk first. "Ooooo, the creature is like a snake," they would say to themselves.

Some of the other dolls found one of the legs. Those dolls decided that the elephant was like a tree.

Still more dolls found the tail. "Clearly, the magical elephant is a kind of rope," they said.

Other dolls touched the ear. "This creature must be some kind of fan," they thought.

There were even some dolls who felt around in the room and never found the elephant at all. They said, "I don't think there really is a magical elephant. I couldn't find one."

Each doll was sure she or he knew the truth and that the other dolls were wrong.

Most dolls like to discuss things, but they don't like to argue, because they know they are supposed to set a good example for the children they live with, so they decided that it was fine that they all believed different things.

This made all the dolls happy, even though they didn't know everything there was to know about the magical elephant.

"So in a way, all the dolls were right," Jolena said.

"They just didn't know all of it,"Mariah said, "so they thought the others were wrong."

"I see the point of the story," Charlotte said. "The magical elephant is like God, and dolls believe different things because they only see part of what God is like."

"Yes," Mandy said, "but that is just what I believe. We all experience God through our own religions, and some dolls don't experience God at all, but there is no way to be sure that what you know in your heart as true is really the whole story."
"Why is that?" Mariah asked.

"We can prove many things," Mandy explained. "There are things we know that help us know ahead of time what will happen," she said.

"This is where science comes in," Mandy continued. "We use science to learn about the world, and we can use what we have learned to know within a few days when it will rain, or what medicine will cure an illness, or what time the sun will rise in the morning."

"What we know in our hearts but can't prove is called belief," Mandy said. "That's what religion is. If someone believes differently from you, it doesn't make what you believe wrong, just different."

"I think things that are different are interesting," Jolena said, "but I like going to my church on Sunday."

"Yes," said Mandy, "So do I. But Mariah goes to a place called a mosque (mosk) on Friday, and Charlotte goes to a place called a synagogue (sin-a-gog) on Saturday. What I believe is that we are all learning about and worshiping the same God, whether in church, in a mosque or in a synagogue, and the familiar words and music help us with that."
"I like going to the mosque," Mariah said. "I like to pray there with others who believe the way I do."

"I like my synagogue," said Charlotte. "I learn something new every time."

"What about the dolls in the story who never found the elephant? Do some dolls not believe in God?" Jolena asked. 

"Some don't, and I think that's fine. It's something each doll has to decide alone," Mandy said. "No one can make you believe something you don't. You may change how you believe because of what happens to you in life, but your beliefs are your own. Most dolls believe in The Doll Code, though. That's the rule we have that we must be kind to each other, look after dolls in need and set a good example for the children in our lives."
"I've learned we need to set a good example for each other, too," Mariah said.
Mariah and Jolena stood up, and the three dolls got ready to go. Mandy looked around at them. "I have a wonderful doll family," she added with a sigh. "You prove it to me every day, so that's not a belief; that's a fact!"

Cast--
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Magical Elephant: Himself

Special note from the author: Mandy's story is based on the parable of the six blind men and the elephant, which originated in ancient times on the Indian subcontinent. It was popularized in the English-speaking world through a poem by John Godfrey Saxe.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as CURE Childhood Cancer or St. Baldrick's Foundation.
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart