There’s a story in
the Hindu tradition that runs something like this: God and a man are walking
down a road. The man asks God: “What is the world like?” God answers: “I’d like
to tell you, but my throat is parched. I need a cup of cold water. If you can go
and get me a cup of cold water, I’ll tell you what the world is like.” The man
heads off to the nearest house to ask for a cup of cold water. He knocks on the
door and it is opened by a beautiful young woman. He asks for a cup of cold
water. She answers: “I will gladly get it for you, but it’s just time for the
noon meal, why don’t you come in first and eat.” He does.
Thirty years later,
they’ve had five children, he’s a respected merchant, she’s a respected member
of the community, they’re in their house one evening when a hurricane comes and
uproots their house. The man cries out: “Help me, God!” And a voice comes from
the center of the hurricane says: “Where’s my cup of cold water?”
This story is not
so much a spiritual criticism as it is a fundamental lesson in anthropology and
spirituality: To be a human being is to be perpetually distracted. We aren’t
persons who live in habitual spiritual awareness who occasionally get
distracted. We’re persons who live in habitual distraction who occasionally become
spiritually aware. We tend be so preoccupied with the ordinary business of
living that it takes a hurricane of some sort for God to break through.
Author Unknown
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