Standing Tall

Six lions and an elephant. That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. "Six lions and an elephant walk into a bar........" or "Six lions and an elephant are in a life boat........." If I were more clever, then I would be able to complete each of those scenarios in a way that would at least elicit a mild chuckle out of an audience. But since I am not, I will note the six lions and an elephant is part of short video I saw recently on You Tube. Someone filmed a confrontation between what looked to be six young lions and an equally young elephant. The lions sensed an easy kill and began to attack the elephant which seemed to be nowhere near its herd.


Several of the lions leaped onto the back of the elephant but the big creature kept moving and spinning and was able to shake them off. Also, it was the elephant's good fortune that the incident occurred near a river. The elephant headed into the river with the hungry cats giving chase, As the elephant submerged itself into the river, the cats pulled back. The elephant was free of its attackers. The fact it had survived to live another day - hopefully a great many more days - was due to perhaps a combination of good fortunate, strength, courage and conviction that there are times when one needs to stand tall against others even if those others seem to have more power.


In a number of areas in the world today, including politics, economics and sociology, so much power appears to be in the hands of those with the loudest voices. Rightly or not, there are those who are not unlike that pack of lions, on the prowl, looking to vanquish those who stand apart from them. And then there are those like the elephant who stand alone with little but their own wits and determination. Such an imbalance is not unique to current times. But what is more prominent than ever is the power of communication. With the help of technology and even professional communicators, those who are out numbered and with fewer resources can be heard. Communication gives them a voice and that is no small thing.