Coco Calling No.241 - Making Our World a Better Place

We parrots love a good bedtime story. A story helps us to settle down on our perches before we go to sleep. And one of my absolute favourites is ‘The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.’ You see, I’ve got a bit of a thing about shoes, slippers and wellington boots. If any of my family leave their footwear lying around, I’m straight in there for a nibble and a gnaw. And for a parrot, a wellington boot isn’t that different to a nest hole in the side of a tree.

The story of the little old woman in her shoe dates back to the eighteenth century. And the original versions are really rather cruel. Some say that a giant came along and smashed down her house and took her husband away, leaving her to seek refuge in a shoe with all of her children. Others say that she whipped all her children before sending them to bed. So it really wasn’t a nice story at all. That is, until 1978, when a lady called Marjorie Ainsworth Decker came along and rewrote the rhyme. You see, she was a Christian lady, and she made the rhyme a whole lot better. Her version goes like this:                                                                                                                “There was an old woman

who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children            

and loved them all, too.

She said ‘Thank you Lord Jesus 

for sending them bread.’

Then kissed them all gladly 

and sent them to bed.”

So Marjorie Ainsworth Decker transformed something that was really rather unpleasant, and turned it into a story of love and thanksgiving. And by rewriting the rhyme, she made this world a little bit better than she found it. Her revised version has become a part of her legacy.

And I’m sure that God wants us all to leave this world that little bit better than we found it. Perhaps through one small act of kindness at a time. Because if we don’t, then we’re really not justifying our existence in this world. And maybe that’s where humans have got it so terribly wrong over the years. Because we can all make things better in a thousand different ways…….so long as we choose to.

“We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.”

(Nelson Mandela: [1918-2013]: South African civil rights campaigner who went on to become President)

“You have the power to make the world a better place by being kind to someone today.”  

(Joyce Meyer: [1943 – present]: American Christian writer and evangelist)

“Leave this world a little better than you found it.”

(Robert Baden-Powell: [1857 – 1941]: British army officer who founded both the scout and girl guide movements.)

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

(Ephesians 2:10)