Vol. 1 06/ 2001
The following story has been read at the beginning of most
community-building workshops. I open
the VVD magazine with it because it provides the core inspiration for the
magazine's contents. Nghia Do 5/30/01 The Rabbi’s Gift
A monastery had fallen upon hard times. A once-great monastic order had been reduced to five monks left in a decaying motherhouse, the abbot and four others, all over seventy in age. A Jewish rabbi used to come to a little hut in the woods surrounding the monastery. The abbot of the monastery visited the rabbi during one such visit to ask if he had advice that might save the monastery. The rabbi said, “I know how it
is. The spirit has gone out of the
people. It is the same in my
town. Almost no one comes to services
of worship any more.” The rabbi and
abbot wept together read sacred texts and quietly spoke of deep things. When the abbot had to leave, he
asked whether the rabbi had any advice, which would help save the dying
order. “No, I am sorry. I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the
Messiah is one of you.” With those
words, the abbot left the rabbi and returned to his dying monastery. When the monks asked about the rabbi’s words,
the abbot passed on to them the words of the rabbi about “the Messiah being
one of us.” The rabbi admitted he did
not know what the words meant. As the days passed, the old monks
pondered the rabbi’s words and wondered.
Could he have meant one of us?
If so which one? Do you suppose
he meant the abbot? Brother
Thomas? Brother Elred? Surely not. Elred is hard to get along with although when you think about
it, he is virtually always right.
Surely not Brother Phillip.
Phillip is so passive, a real nobody, but almost mysteriously, he has
a gift for somehow always being there when you need him. Of course, the Rabbi could not have meant
me, but supposing he did. Suppose I
am the Messiah. As they contemplated in this
manner, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect in
the event one among them might be the Messiah. Moreover, just in case one might himself be the Messiah, they
each began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect. Because the forest in which it was
situated was beautiful, it so happened that people still occasionally came to
visit the monastery to picnic on its tiny lawn, to wander along some of its
paths, even now and then to go into the dilapidated chapel to meditate. As they did so, without even being
conscious of it, they sensed this aura of extraordinary respect that now
began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out from them and
permeate the atmosphere of the place.
There were something strangely attractive, even compelling, about
it. Hardly knowing why, they began to
come back to the monastery more frequently to picnic, to play, to pray. They began to bring their friends to show
them this special place. And their
friends brought their friends. Then it happened that some of the
younger men who came to visit the monastery started to talk with the old
monks. After a while, one asked if he
could join them. Then another. And another. So within a few years the monastery had once again become a
thriving order and, thank to the rabbi’s gift, a vibrant center of light and
spirituality in the kingdom.
-------------------------------- Send your feedback to phutavanthu@yahoo.com |
|
|||
|
|
|
||