I have always admired this story from the Arab mystic Sa'di.
A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its leg and wondered how it lived. Then he saw a tiger come in with game in its mouth. The tiger had its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox.
The next day God fed the fox by means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God's greatness and said to himself, "I too shall just rest in a corner with full trust in the Lord and he will provide all that I need."
He did this for many days but nothing happened, and he was almost at the point of death when he heard a voice say, "O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth! Follow the example of the tiger and stop imitating the disabled fox."
That is a wonderful parable and reminds me of times in my life when prayer has led me to see others with the eyes of Christ. So often, many of us fall prey to the desire to become the disabled fox believing in some way that we are deserving of all the attention and fuss. The truth is that life comes alive when we embrace the vocation of the tiger and feed those persons who cannot feed themselves. This is when prayer becomes liberating.
Love One Another - Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment