Clyde, the White Kangaroo

(A Christmas fantasy by Fr. Gerard Fuller, o.m.i.)

Once upon a time there was a white kangaroo named Clyde. Clyde was a
bashful kangaroo. He didn't know exactly how to relate to people. And this
hurt him, because he really wanted to please people.

At first Clyde tried acting tough, because people seemed to admire his size.
Underneath his toughness, Clyde was still a loveable pushover. But he found
that people didn't understand him when he acted tough. They were afraid of
him.

Next Clyde thought, "Maybe I can please people if I let them walk all over
me." So Clyde played the clown and let himself become the butt of jokes. But
he found that people only laughed at him and then walked away, leaving him
alone.

Very depressed one night, Clyde was looking at the moon with tears in his
eyes. "Where did I go wrong, Lord? How can I please people? Isn't that what
you want?"

Suddenly the moon seemed to explode into a blinding globe of light, and
Clyde saw the Great Kangaroo. The Great Kangaroo smiled at Clyde and said,
"Stop trying to please people, Clyde. You can never win. Just love them."

'But Lord," Clyde stammered, "how do you love people?"

The Great Kangaroo stepped up to Clyde and enfolded him in a warm embrace.
Clyde felt a wonderful tingling from head to foot and melted with love.

"That's how, Clyde," the Great Kangaroo said, and then disappeared.

The next day Clyde could hardly wait to get up. The first kangaroo he met
Clyde embraced warmly, and said, "Hi, Joe." Joe jumped back a little after
Clyde stopped hugging him, said nervously, "Hi, Clyde," and hurried down the
street.

Clyde hardly noticed Joe's reaction. Clyde was so filled with love, he went
around hugging people all day. A lot of the little people, like the rabbits,
squirrels, and chipmunks, liked the new Clyde; and they hugged him back. But
some of the bigger animals, like the bear, rebuffed Clyde with a "What's the
matter, you crazy or something?"

The Big Dogs started talking behind Clyde's back. "What's with Clyde?" said
the eagle, "he got religion or something?" "Naw," said the dragon, "I just
think he's gone full circle and completely spaced out. He always was a
little flaky."

Soon the ridicule changed to real concern, however, as reports came back of
how the animals were flocking to Clyde and learning to hug each other with
love. The Dragon, the Bear and the Eagle got together and said, "We better
take care of ole Clyde or he's gonna steal our constituency away from us."

So they sent out an edict that no more hugging was allowed. This edict hurt
Clyde and his little friends, but they couldn't stop loving. So they would
meet in the moonlight in the forest and sing songs, clap hands, praise God,
and hug each other with love.

At one of these meetings Clyde had just hugged a little weasel named Jude
when Jude jumped back and screamed, "Aha! Now we've got you, Clyde. That
hug was just
taped by a hidden camera and seen by all the Big Dogs back at the palace."

The Big Dogs gave Clyde a mock trial. The Fox-Priest said, "Clyde, hugging
is not loving. You must suffer to love. Repent of your sins and start to
suffer."

The Goat Psychologist said, "Clyde, you are a sick person. Hugging is only a
sign that your parents didn't love you as a child. Shape up and grow up."

The Bulldog said, "Clyde, you're a weirdo."

The Coyote said, "Clyde, you're a freeloader."

The Wolf said, "Clyde, you're a troublemaker."

So, in December, one of the coldest months of the year, the Big Dogs, the
Bear, the Eagle and the Dragon, condemned Clyde to exile on the polar caps
of the Arctic North Pole. This was a most cruel death, for Clyde had no one
to hug as he sad dejectedly on a polar ice cap after being dropped there by
helicopter.

Clyde lay down on the ice cap, drew his legs up into his pouch, and hugged
himself. A deathly chill settled into his bones. Just as he breathed his
last, Clyde looked up at the moon with tears in his eyes and said, "Lord,
where did I go wrong?"

Suddenly the moon exploded into a blinding white flash and the Great
Kangaroo appeared. He bent down, lifted the stiff, white form of Clyde into
his arms in a warm, life-giving embrace, and said, "You did good, Clyde."

As the Great Kangaroo lifted Clyde to heaven, thousands of snowflakes began
to sift upward from Clyde's white pouch and fall back down onto earth. As
they fell, the flakes touched each other, interlocking and hugging. On the
earth they formed a warm, every-increasing blanket of snow.

Back on earth the Big Dogs, the Bear, the Eagle, and the Dragon, didn't
notice the sudden snowfall at first. They were too busy blaming each other
that Clyde was now a martyr and a folk-hero in the eyes of the little
people.

The little people seemed immediately to know where the snow came from as
they saw the flakes hugging each other and forming a blanket. The little
people also simply started hugging each other, and so they kept warm.

The Big Dogs kept snapping at each other. They weren't about to hug one
another, not even to keep warm. They would rather die first. And that's
exactly what they did, each one, in his own lair ... they froze to death.

At Springtime the Great Kangaroo sent the Spirit of his Sun to melt the
snow, which became rivers of living water to enrich the land. The little
people were still hugging each other when the Sun broke through, at which
time they also began to clap their hands and praised God.

That's why, at the end of December, the little people read to their children
the story about Clyde and teach them the "Clyde Principle." It's a simple
principle: it consists in hugging with love.

And that's why, at the end of December, the little people put their arms
around each other and look out the window, hoping for a snowfall. And sure
enough, as the flakes fall, interlocking hugging each other, the little
people look up at the white moon peeping behind the racks of snow clouds,
and say softly, "Thanks, Clyde."

Fr. Gerard Fuller, o.m.i., pastor
St.William's Catholic Church
P.O. Box 367
Gainesville MO 65655
Tel.: (417) 679-4804
Fax: (417) 679-2037
padre@TRI-LAKES.NET