For Those Who Have Eyes to See…

In his book, The Te of Piglet, Benjamin Hoff tells a funny story about how a Hindu, a Rabbi, and a Critic were traveling separately through the countryside late one afternoon they were all three caught in a terrific thunderstorm. They sought shelter at a nearby farmhouse.

“That storm will be raging for hours.” The farmer told them. “You ought to spend the night. The problem is there is only room for two in the house. One of you must sleep in the barn.” “I’ll be the one,” said the Hindu, “ a little hardship is nothing to me.” And he went to the barn.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. It was the Hindu. “I’m sorry he said to the others, but there is a cow in the barn. Cows are sacred creatures and I cannot impose.”

“Don’t worry said the Rabbi, make yourself comfortable. I will go sleep in the barn”

A few minutes later there was another knock at the door. It was the Rabbi. “I hate to be a bother,” he said, “but there is a pig in the barn. In my religion pigs are unclean, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sleeping near a pig.” “Oh, all right said the Critic, “I’ll go sleep in the barn.”

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. It was the pig and the cow.

I heard a pastor say once about himself as a sort of confession. He said, “In my life, in the past, I found that I so quickly become the cynic. I so quickly become the critic. I would only see what was wrong all the time, and I’d be the first to point it out to anyone who’d listen. And you know – everybody loves that guy. But I just thought I was one of the perceptive ones, one of the smart ones – and there I was standing at the back of the room throwing stones at everything. It is so easy to find and point out what is wrong. But it takes courage to believe. In a world where there is so much darkness, so much messed up sin, it takes the deepest courage to stand up and find the good – to hold out hope, and to choose to find God’s fingerprints everywhere.”

Let us pray: God of love, in a world where there is much darkness, grant us the ability to notice the beauty and the good all around us, the courage to hold onto hope, and the eyes to see your fingerprints everywhere. Amen.