The Land of the Disabled
One day, I had a dream where I found myself on an island. This was a land of the disabled. It is said that this was due to one of God's mistakes one day, which resulted in most of the people here being disabled, while healthy individuals were very few. In this place, social status wasn't determined by occupation or wealth, but rather by physical health and the degree of bodily completeness.
When guests first arrived here, a person with one leg longer than the other would serve a cup of green tea. Due to the significant difference in the length of his legs, he walked as if hopping into pits, swaying severely. Therefore, balancing a cup of tea without spilling it, something very easy for a healthy person, required great effort from him. Thus, when he placed a fragrant cup of tea adorned with flower petals neatly in front of us, I was deeply moved and sincerely thanked him for his work, even though he merely served me a cup of tea.
He had just stepped back when a girl with only one leg danced for us. Then, a man with only one hand came to peel apples for us. Although his arm ended abruptly at the wrist like a stick, his arm seemed magnetic, coordinating with his other hand to peel the apple and pass it over. A male companion of mine wanted to smoke, and a blind person came over to light his cigarette. After the host and guest formalities were done, we began to speak. However, the elder sitting in the main seat, who had been smiling all along and nodding to indicate we should drink tea and eat fruit, turned out to be mute. A blind person beside him spoke on his behalf.
Our hosts told us that there was no quarreling here, no disputes between pickles and fish (a local idiom indicating trivial conflicts), no crime, and everyone was gentle. There was no fighting, and the arguments, brawls, and verbal disputes we commonly see on the streets did not exist here at all. Quarrels and roughhousing were considered highly shameful matters here because some people could speak while others couldn't, so how could they argue? Some had two legs, some had one, and others were in wheelchairs—how could they fight?
More importantly, they understood better than us that God gave us a mouth for communication and connection, not for arguing; He gave us hands to work and help ourselves and others, not to steal or point fingers at others; He gave us legs to walk, not to chase and do evil deeds; He gave us a spine to stand tall and be good humans, not to bend it for fame and profit; He gave us intelligence to live better lives, not to scheme and fight against heaven, earth, and each other; He gave us health to live well, not to take more than our share after eating and drinking our fill and then invade others' resources.
In short, everything that God or nature has created for us has its purpose, yet humanity has misused them all. Originally, God created humans because He feared Earth was too lonely. However, instead, humans have made Earth unbearable by digging into its skin (cutting down trees, destroying fields to build houses), cutting its sinews and bones (developing various minerals, including coal and ores), draining its blood (extracting oil, over-pumping groundwater), suffocating its breath (mining natural gas and coal gas), blinding its vision (air pollution), and stifling its breathing (destroying vegetation, forests, and grasslands). As long as Earth still has a breath left, humans continue to torment it until it perishes.
Waking up from the dream, I looked around at the world around me and broke out in a cold sweat.