You probably don’t remember the TV show Kung Fu. It was quite popular in the early 1970’s – a Western where a half-Chinese Shaolin monk travels the Old West in search of his brother, while avoiding capture from bandits and bounty-hunters. And if you could get past the heavy amounts of yellowface in casting David Carradine as a half-Chinese man (a role that was originally conceived for Bruce Lee), the show had its charm.
Any time there was a pivotal moment in the show, there would be a flashback to Carradine’s character as a young boy in the Shaolin temple. In those flashbacks, he would remember the teachings of his masters, including the concept of achieving adulthood by being able to snatch a pebble from his master’s hand. Once he could do that, he was truly a man.
I also remember that in the temple, Carradine’s character was nicknamed “grasshopper.” As in he was not a true adult fighter, he was still a bug crawling in the foliage, and had not yet achieved his purpose.
I remember this because, a few months ago, on one of my early dates with Suzanne, I waited for her at an agreed-upon meeting place (we were still in the “are we really sure about this dating thing” phase), and as I waited for her car to pull up, I happened to notice – on a shop window – this little guy.
Just a little grasshopper who somehow climbed all the way up to the side of a window pane.
Just a little guy who helped me center myself and realize that this potential new relationship could grow into something special. And that maybe it was time for me to leave a personal Shaolin temple of self-doubt and apprehension.
Trust me. Sometimes even the smallest of creatures can impact the greatest of messages.
