The young man falls from his horse, and is paralysed, confined to a wheelchair. He rages against the God who has allowed this to happen to him. The Zen master says nothing.
War breaks out, and all the young men of the district are marched away to fight. “But for my accident, I too would have had to march away. God has saved me from the dangers of the battlefield!” says the young man.
The man studies and becomes a great scientist. He gives thanks to God for giving him these gifts. But the government of the day uses his discoveries to create weapons of terrible power to use against innocent people. “There cannot be a loving God if he allows such things to happen!” says the man.
“We’ll see”, says the master …. And so the story goes on, throughout the life of the man.
………………………
Another story comes from the Shoah, the Jewish Holocaust. A group of Jewish prisoners in one of the death camps decide to put God on trial for allowing the disaster to come upon them and on so many thousands of innocent people. All night long the arguments range back and forth, but eventually the conclusion is reached; God is guilty, God has abandoned his people, God is dead. The rabbi looks out of the window of the hut, and sees that morning is breaking. “Come along”, he says, “It is time for our morning prayers”, and the group go to their devotions as they have done every morning since their arrival.
Is this an example of great wisdom, or great foolishness?
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1 comment:
Can't decide whether, having just hit 50, these musings on destiny seem to strike a stronger chord. I think we may delude ourselves before we get to the "death wish" age, at about this time, that we might somehow be involved in changing our own or other's destiny. I feel less vulnerable to disappointment now and closer to what the universe is about. I can't really see the point in believing in abstract concepts like God. As if it would make any difference to Him whether or not we believed. But like the Jews in the concentration camp I can't help myself from praying before the plane takes off at the runway. Prayer is so comforting and meaningful. My closest friends and relatives are all dead. I don't feel that their death has made their lives meaningful or put it all into perspective. They are just dead. So having dispensed with Faith what about Hope. I do, by the grace of God or my own DNA, instinctively have a well of hope. You need to in our climate. Just as the cold and drizzle of the winter months eat into your soul you know you will be redeemed by the Spring. This is just the natural order of things. I don't need to believe or spread this gospel for it to be so. Likewise, I speak to suicidal depressives, who would not be helped by anyone else's good news. What supports them is the opportunity to tell their own story and not to listen to other people's redemptive struggles.
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