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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Happy Birthday April – The Hundredth Monkey

Dear April,

Wow, 12 years old already. You’re growing up so fast and becoming a beautiful young lady. We are proud of you and appreciate your desire to read, learn, understand, and live the truths of God. We feel very blessed to be your parents and enjoy this treasured time together.

You have a spunky little personality, full of fun and excitement. You like to tease your dear old dad, scare him by surprise, or take his keys just to get a reaction and see if he call still run. He’s still pretty fast, huh? We won’t mention that sometimes he uses the little undersized 50cc motorcycle to catch you. Oh, the fun we have together!

Thanks for your thoughtfulness, kindness, and love. Gentleness, sensitivity, and a genuine smile are some of your qualities that bless the lives of many. Thanks for being such a wonderful daughter and we appreciate your life of integrity. Thanks for the excitement and joy you bring to every occasion. You play a special part of our home, and our family would be incomplete without your sparkly personality.

We wish you a Happy Birthday and hope you enjoy this little story:
 
The Hundredth Monkey

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, has been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers, too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.

Between 1952 and 1958, all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes—the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let’s further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.

THEN IT HAPPENED!

By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!

But notice. A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea …Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes!

Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind. Although the exact number may very, the Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the consciousness property of these people. But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone! …

You may be the "Hundredth Monkey"…

Love,

Mom and Dad

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