Just What Is Horton Trying to Say?

 

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[fn]

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

~Psalms 139:13,14

STOP! Hurry to your nearest bookshelf, library, or store. Get a copy before there is no more. Then slowly, carefully read each line. Is there anything vaguely familiar in the rhyme? 

Horton, whose elephant ears are very sharp, hears the tiniest voice calling for help. He can't see the person whose voice he hears. Some poor little person who resides on a speck of dust is crying out shaking in fear "that he'll be blown in the pool. He has no way to steer." 

That speck is as small as the head of a pin. But you know "a person's a person no matter how small."

Horton imagines who might be living on that speck of dust, "a family with children just starting to grow." The baby kangaroo agrees with everything his mother says. She's training her baby to have the same misconstrued values as she. But Horton keeps repeating "A person's a person, no matter how small." Even when everyone is making fun of him, he still stands for what he knows is right. 

Three monkeys jump on Horton's back. they could have been his friends, the government, or just pushy people trying to help. So they take the speck on the flower and give it to the vulture. Who is to "kindly get rid of the thing." What? Kindly get rid? of the thing? Others say nothing is there, but now there is an admittance that there is something there.

So the vulture "hides" it in a field of other flowers. Horton feels more dead than alive. Think about that. Horton didn't agree to throw the flower away but it's affecting him anyway. Finally he discovers the flower with Whoville still alive though shattered. 

The kangaroo says they live in a peaceable jungle. How can the world in which they live be peaceable when they destroy the smallest among them? How can Horton show them the truth? By getting everyone in Whoville to make a noise, shout, play music, just make noise, but the kangaroo still can't hear.

But not everyone who lives in Whoville is doing their part. When the mayor searches for the person, he finds him innocently playing with his yoyo at home. He's the one who is keeping the town from being heard. His shout "Yopp!" is the needed extra sound to bring the message to the kangaroo. She changes her mind and her little roo does too. 

The Supreme Court has heard the case and sent it to the states. Many states are waiting for their own supreme court to make a decision while thousands of children die. Others have already decided to allow abortion and even infanticide. Our state leaders need to hear our voices now. Who is the last one to let our voice be heard? 

A person's a person, no matter how small!

Heavenly Father, please let the voices of your people arise and be heard by all the land so that the killing of our innocents will cease and healing can begin. In Jesus's name. Amen. 

Hey Kids:

Have you read Horton Hears a Who? Just who is a Who? I think you probably know the story of the Grinch. Little Cindy Lou Who lives in Whoville, the same Whoville Horton saves on the speck of dust. 

Many of Dr. Seuss's stories have important messages with a Christian worldview. What other books by Dr. Seuss have you read? What were some of the messages? 

Every book has an underlying message.  I like to go back and reread books that I enjoy to make sure I got the author's meaning. What other books have you read with a Christian worldview?