God With No Hands from Monteaco

I am so very fearful that some of the wonderful information that was out there when I first started will all but disappear in the next few years. Some of the sites that have been archived are also gone now. As I went to the old Montessori Teacher Collective archived site this morning my heart sank in a pit of dismay. The site was unable to load, as if the website if no longer there. If webarchive no longer exists then the information held within will also be gone forever for future generations.

I feel the overwhelming need to preserve this information in some sort of virtual library museum.... I hope that I always convey respect to the wonderful Montessorians who so freely help others by creating these materials and to whom I have forwarded their information to continue to help others by letting their voices continue to be heard.

Due to this I have chosen to put myself out on a limb and copy the story of God with no hands told by Mario Montessori as he recalled his mother telling it, from the Monteaco site. I hope that I do not offend or hurt any ones feelings by doing this, please know I mean only respect and good intentions. - Nameste

http://web.archive.org/web/20050309061847/www.moteaco.com/albums/story1.html

(I have taken the story down for the moment as the site is back up and running.......if it disappears again I will reconsider reposting it)

The Great River

A While back everyone was searching for the story of the Great River that Mario recalls Maria telling. Lorna came to the rescue. (There is also a link above to a wonderful play)

"The Great River

Today I am going to tell you a story that began long, long ago when human beings first appeared on Earth.

This story is about a marvellous country country that is crossed by a mysterious invisible river. Each region o fthis nation is important, but the Great River is the most important of all. This wondrous river with its streams, rivultes and creeks, crosses each area of the country and reaches every town, village and hamlet, even the smallest and most remote field.

This river not only nourishes the nation, but it makes life possible for each living thing in the nationa. The Great River is the main road of transportation. It not only distributes nourishment to the various parts of the country, but it also eliminates its wastes, thereby keeping the nation healthy. Here everything, even from the very beginning, has worked in harmony.

Do you know who inhabits this strange nation? How is it possible that peace has existed for such a long time? Who is in charge of this nation? How do the inhabitants relate to each other? And what relationship exists between the inhabitants and their government?

You must realize that this is a truly unique nation. Its government has never wavered and has functioned successfully through the centries. Its inhabitants always work, are never lazy, and never go on strike. What is more, they work without knowing for whom they work.

They do not know the reason for their work. They do not work for gain. They work in order to live and live in order to work. They are driven to abide by the Great Laws of the Cosmos. The inhabitants all perform specific tasks. Their work fulfills a need... to promote harmony. If as a resulte of conflict, the nation were to perish, all its inhabitants would die. In this nation there are, of course, some workers who die because of illness or old age. They are taken away by the Great River and disposed of.

Let us look at the map of this great nation.

The ancient and fortified castle is the seat of the goverment. It is headquarters of the Prime Minister of all the workers. From there, orders are sent to all the workers; they are transmitted by the Department of Senses which keeps the headquarters informed of what the nation needs.

There are other separate ministries, each having its own building:

The Ministry of Nutrition is located in the windmill. In some countries, windmills grind grain and transform it into
flour.

The Ministry of Air is located in the blue building. It controls the intake and the quality of air.

The soldiers live in the grey building, the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Transporation supervises the moving of supplies on the Great River.

All the wastes are taken to the Ministry of Sanitation, located in the green building. This ministry oversees the elminiation of the nation's wastes.

All the ministries have a communication link with each other and a direct line to the headquarters. The headquarters sends orders to each ministry with unbelieveable speed and they are carried out immediately.

Where is this strange nation? What is this Great river most commonly known as? The unusual nation is the human body, and the river is our bloodstream. Who are the inhabitants, you may ask? These are so tiny that we cannot see them with the naked eye. There are trillions of them and all are called by the same name...cells.

But not all cells are alike. There are different cells because each specialises to carry out a different kind of work. When you read about the history of life, what were the first cells like? They were all alike. But little by little they began to take on distinct tasks. Let us compare them to people.

"Let us compare them to people."

In the beginning, people too did similar kinds of work. They began by using stone tools to gather and hunt their food. As they began to develop cultures and take up farming, people began to choose different tasks. Some became farmers, others doctors or teachers.

When a person loves their work with a passion, an internal change occurs - work becomes the main purpose of their life. The same thing happens to the cells of our body. We call this "cellular specialization".

We have said that each inhabitant of our body is a specialized worker. What are they made of? Cells look like tiny drops of brownish water. However, in that small measure of water is contained an immense secret...a secret that has enabled the cell to construct all living things, from microscopic protozoa, to the algae, to the human brain. This substance is the essence of the whole Cosmos.

This essence is endowed with a powerful sensitivity called spirituality. It does not surrender to anything but it permeates life everywhere and protects it by any means. It uses the powers of selfishness and love. The primitive cells, as well as those of our bodies, obey the Great Laws which govern the universe.

Here is a description of the members of our great nation. The seat of the government represented by the castle, is the Nervous System.

The Great River is the Circulatory System.

The other ministries represent various systems of the human body.

Ministry of Air: Respiratory System

Ministry of Nutrition: Digestive System

Ministry of Defense: Lymphatic System

Ministry of Sanitation: Excretory System

Department of Senses: Five Senses (smell, touch, sight, hearing, taste) There are other ministries not pictured in the chart.

The cooperative work of the inhabitants represents life and the nation is the human body. **********************************
The experiments I have deal with

1. the bone (skeletal)

2. the lever, and the work of muscles (muscular)

3. the heart (circulatory)

4. inhaling and exhaling, and carbon dioxide and water vapor in breath (respiratory)

5. water and saliva, and the effect of saliva on starch hydrochloric acid and other gastric juices, and the emulsion of fat chemical reaction, and combustion (digestive)

6. human reaction to stimuli, and tactile papilla, and recognizing odors (excretory)

7. human reaction to stimuli, and recognizing odors, and the eye (light, and light travels, and the eye reflection of light, and mirrors, and shadows), and the ear (hearing sounds, sound, and sound waves, and hearing sounds, and when sounds are transmitted) (nervous)" - Lorna