High
in the mountains was a monastery that had once been known throughout the world.
Its monks were pious and its students were enthusiastic. The chants from the
monastery’s chapel deeply touched the hearts of people who came there to pray
and meditate.
But, something had changed. Fewer and fewer young men came to study there; fewer
and fewer people came for spiritual nourishment. The monks who remained became disheartened and sad.
Deeply worried, the abbot of the monastery went off in search of an answer. Why
had his monastery fallen on such hard times?
The abbot came to a guru, and he asked the master, “Is it because of some sin
of ours that the monastery is no longer full of vitality?”
“Yes,” replied the master, “it is the sin of ignorance.”
“The sin of ignorance?” questioned the abbot. “Of what are we ignorant?”
The guru looked at the abbot for a long, long time, and then he said, “One of
you is the messiah in disguise. But, you are all ignorant of this.” Then, the
guru closed his eyes, and he was silent.
“The messiah?” thought the abbot. “The messiah is one of us? Who could it
be? Could it be Brother Cook? Could it be Brother Treasurer? Could it be Brother
Bell-Ringer? Could it be Brother Vegetable Grower?
“Which one? Which one? Every one of us has faults, failings and human defects.
Isn’t the messiah supposed to be perfect? But, then, perhaps these faults and
failings are part of his disguise. Which one? Which one?”
When the abbot returned to the monastery, he gathered all the monks together and
told them what the guru had said.
“One of us is the messiah? It’s impossible!”
But, the master had spoken, and the master was never wrong.
“One of us is the messiah? That’s incredible! But, it must be so. Which one?
Which one? That brother over there? That
one? That one?”
Whichever
one of the monks was the messiah, he was, surely, in disguise.
Not knowing who amongst them was the messiah, all the monks began treating each
other with new respect. “You never know,” they thought, “he might be the
one, so I had better deal with him kindly.”
It was not long before the monastery was filled with new-found-joy. Soon, new
students came to learn, and people came from far and wide to be inspired by the
chants of the kind, smiling monks.
For once again, the monastery was filled with the spirit of love.
Unknown
Author
Everybody
can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a
college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb
agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by
love. ~Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
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Tim
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