Here is a story that certainly expresses one aspect of participation.

It was a chilly, overcast day when the horseman spied the little sparrow lying on its back in the middle of the road. Reining in his mount he looked down and inquired of the fragile creature, "Why are you lying upside down like that?"

"I heard the heavens are going to fall today," replied the bird.

The horseman laughed, "And I suppose your spindly legs can hold up the heavens?"

"One does what one can," said the little sparrow, "one does what one can."

—Source unknown