Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Readings for Friday of the 5th Week of Easter
First Published: Friday, May 19, 2006
Food for thought
Reflection:
Today my reflection is a story:
Once upon a time and long ago (good stories always start this way) there was a great king. He was a very good and wise man who had great respect and love for all God had created.
One day as the king was at his kingly work; his son brought him a plant he had found growing in a far distant part of the kingdom. It was a very rare and beautiful plant. His son told him;Father, this plant has amazing properties! Let me show you. And the king loved his son and told him to go ahead.
His son called in the head of the palace guard and told them to go into the dungeon and bring up the most incorrigible prisoner. The guard brought in Jud the Weasel, as he was known. This person had committed every hateful act imaginable. It was only through the kings mercy that he had not been put to death for his crimes. The son took the plant and told Jud the Weasel to breath deeply of the golden flower that crowned the plant. Jud the Weasel did not want to. It had to be some sort of trick. This mean kid was trying to poison him, or so he thought. Finally the son actually picked up the pot in which the plant was growing and shoved it into the prisoners face. After holding his breath for a pretty good length of time, Jud the weasel finally took a breath.
The effect was immediate and incredible. Juds face showed what was going on. First he relaxed with a look of wonder on his face, then a look of realization came over him and he looked very sad and a large tear ran down his cheek (It was the first tear anyone had seen Jud cry in anyones memory.). Jud turned to the king and said, Your majesty, all the hateful and hurtful things I have done in my life have just come to me and I see them for what they are for the very first time. Please let me go and beg the pardon of all those people I have hurt and make some restitution.
It was known through out the kingdom that Jud the Weasel never apologized. The king was amazed. He looked at his son and said; How is this possible? Is he some how trying to trick us? But the king knew this was not true even as he asked. It was the look on Juds face. He was at peace, he had an inner beauty that had not been there before. Something deep inside him had changed. So the king released him and, good to his word, Jud the Gentle (he was no longer called the weasel) went to begin his quest to undo the wrong he had done in his life.
The king then turned to his son and said, This is a remarkable plant, we need more of it. I charge you to go and cultivate a huge crop of these plants and bring them back here we can give one to every person in our kingdom.
The son replied, Father, I am happy to do this, but the plant will only grow in a far off part of the kingdom many days travel from here. And the people that live in that region are not very friendly.
The king said to him, Son, dont worry. Just tell them I sent you and that they should help you with this great work.
So the son went off on his own quest. He arrived at his destination after many days, all dusty and travel worn. He told the people of that place that he was the son of the king and he had an important mission, given to him by the king himself. Most of the people took one look at him and laughed. You see he didnt look very much like the son of a king.
The son was disappointed but not surprised and began looking for the rare plant so he could begin the project. He thought that once he showed the people what the flower could do, they would all help him grow more of them so he could get the task his father had given him done.
He found just a few of the incredible plants and started to grow them. Some came to flower and these he used on some of the people around the area so they started to help him as well. Some of the other people saw the effect the flowers had on the sons helpers and were amazed that thought, perhaps we should help. You see, just being around the flowers, even when they were not in bloom, had a pleasing effect. But in their hearts, they thought, this is a vary beautiful plant, we should keep it just for ourselves so they started to help the son but for reasons of their own.
The son was not stupid. He could tell that there was another reason for these people to help him, but he thought, once I get enough of these plants going, I can share them with these helpers as well and they will understand in their hearts what this great project is all about.
Now the difficulty was this. The plants took along time to grow and mature so they would bear a flower. They also needed to be carefully tended. This all took time and some of the local farmers were not happy about so many people starting to help the kings son because it left them short handed for their own work. They needed many helpers to grow their crops which they sold at great cost (thats another story though).
These other farmers were getting more and more upset, but still the kings son continued to work on his great project. He continued to invite anyone he met to help him, even non-farmers and this aggravated the situation further. Finally, they acted. The grabbed the kings son and took him before the local judge (who was also a farmer). This judge said the kings son was a fake and that he was acting against the kings wishes (even though no one had asked) and should be killed. This they did. Even many of the people who had helped in the fields (not the ones who had smelled the flower, but the others) helped put him to death.
Then, fearing the king might hear about what they had done, they decided to kill all the plants he had started to grow. So they went out into the fields he had planted and started to hack down the plants. But there was another miraculous thing about these plants. When they were hacked down, they erupted in a cloud of seeds on little silken umbrellas. These seeds were quickly caught by the breeze and spread through out the area. Where ever these seed landed they began to grow. The more plants the local farmers cut down, the more seeds were released.
Now it takes a long time for these plants to grow and they are rare. But if we look hard for them, they are there for us to find. And even without the kings son to tend them personally they will grow. And were they find fertile soil, everyone will live happily ever after.
Pax
Oh, you may wonder what the king is going to do to those mean people who killed his son. That part of the story had not yet been told.
Readings for Friday of the 5th Week of Easter
First Published: Friday, May 19, 2006
Food for thought
Reflection:
Today my reflection is a story:
Once upon a time and long ago (good stories always start this way) there was a great king. He was a very good and wise man who had great respect and love for all God had created.
One day as the king was at his kingly work; his son brought him a plant he had found growing in a far distant part of the kingdom. It was a very rare and beautiful plant. His son told him;Father, this plant has amazing properties! Let me show you. And the king loved his son and told him to go ahead.
His son called in the head of the palace guard and told them to go into the dungeon and bring up the most incorrigible prisoner. The guard brought in Jud the Weasel, as he was known. This person had committed every hateful act imaginable. It was only through the kings mercy that he had not been put to death for his crimes. The son took the plant and told Jud the Weasel to breath deeply of the golden flower that crowned the plant. Jud the Weasel did not want to. It had to be some sort of trick. This mean kid was trying to poison him, or so he thought. Finally the son actually picked up the pot in which the plant was growing and shoved it into the prisoners face. After holding his breath for a pretty good length of time, Jud the weasel finally took a breath.
The effect was immediate and incredible. Juds face showed what was going on. First he relaxed with a look of wonder on his face, then a look of realization came over him and he looked very sad and a large tear ran down his cheek (It was the first tear anyone had seen Jud cry in anyones memory.). Jud turned to the king and said, Your majesty, all the hateful and hurtful things I have done in my life have just come to me and I see them for what they are for the very first time. Please let me go and beg the pardon of all those people I have hurt and make some restitution.
It was known through out the kingdom that Jud the Weasel never apologized. The king was amazed. He looked at his son and said; How is this possible? Is he some how trying to trick us? But the king knew this was not true even as he asked. It was the look on Juds face. He was at peace, he had an inner beauty that had not been there before. Something deep inside him had changed. So the king released him and, good to his word, Jud the Gentle (he was no longer called the weasel) went to begin his quest to undo the wrong he had done in his life.
The king then turned to his son and said, This is a remarkable plant, we need more of it. I charge you to go and cultivate a huge crop of these plants and bring them back here we can give one to every person in our kingdom.
The son replied, Father, I am happy to do this, but the plant will only grow in a far off part of the kingdom many days travel from here. And the people that live in that region are not very friendly.
The king said to him, Son, dont worry. Just tell them I sent you and that they should help you with this great work.
So the son went off on his own quest. He arrived at his destination after many days, all dusty and travel worn. He told the people of that place that he was the son of the king and he had an important mission, given to him by the king himself. Most of the people took one look at him and laughed. You see he didnt look very much like the son of a king.
The son was disappointed but not surprised and began looking for the rare plant so he could begin the project. He thought that once he showed the people what the flower could do, they would all help him grow more of them so he could get the task his father had given him done.
He found just a few of the incredible plants and started to grow them. Some came to flower and these he used on some of the people around the area so they started to help him as well. Some of the other people saw the effect the flowers had on the sons helpers and were amazed that thought, perhaps we should help. You see, just being around the flowers, even when they were not in bloom, had a pleasing effect. But in their hearts, they thought, this is a vary beautiful plant, we should keep it just for ourselves so they started to help the son but for reasons of their own.
The son was not stupid. He could tell that there was another reason for these people to help him, but he thought, once I get enough of these plants going, I can share them with these helpers as well and they will understand in their hearts what this great project is all about.
Now the difficulty was this. The plants took along time to grow and mature so they would bear a flower. They also needed to be carefully tended. This all took time and some of the local farmers were not happy about so many people starting to help the kings son because it left them short handed for their own work. They needed many helpers to grow their crops which they sold at great cost (thats another story though).
These other farmers were getting more and more upset, but still the kings son continued to work on his great project. He continued to invite anyone he met to help him, even non-farmers and this aggravated the situation further. Finally, they acted. The grabbed the kings son and took him before the local judge (who was also a farmer). This judge said the kings son was a fake and that he was acting against the kings wishes (even though no one had asked) and should be killed. This they did. Even many of the people who had helped in the fields (not the ones who had smelled the flower, but the others) helped put him to death.
Then, fearing the king might hear about what they had done, they decided to kill all the plants he had started to grow. So they went out into the fields he had planted and started to hack down the plants. But there was another miraculous thing about these plants. When they were hacked down, they erupted in a cloud of seeds on little silken umbrellas. These seeds were quickly caught by the breeze and spread through out the area. Where ever these seed landed they began to grow. The more plants the local farmers cut down, the more seeds were released.
Now it takes a long time for these plants to grow and they are rare. But if we look hard for them, they are there for us to find. And even without the kings son to tend them personally they will grow. And were they find fertile soil, everyone will live happily ever after.
Pax
Oh, you may wonder what the king is going to do to those mean people who killed his son. That part of the story had not yet been told.
posted by Deacon Jim | 3:21 AM
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