Our power is endless if we connect to the endless....
Often times in this world, people feel the need to hold others up on a
pedestal and give them a larger than life status turning them into something
far greater than who they actually are. It’s not the lifting up of others that
bothers me, its the automatic default mode of lower status the rest of us
become when we separate an elite group or people from of the rest. As if
only a few of us are worthy of praise and love. The rest of us our just
commoners and unimportant is how the thinking goes. But this is not the
truth at all. Everyone one of us is worth knowing and is capable of reaching
great heights of righteousness. We often want to put people high up on
pedestals because then we get the permission to be lazy. We can live a
life unconsciously and devoid of true work if we adopt the belief that only
certain people are destined to greatness and the rest of us are just
hopeless fools who need not apply. We are not forced to idolize anyone —
we run after the opportunity so we can opt out of the game of life and sit on
the sidelines.
Probably my favorites spiritual story of all time is a story that tells of how an
ordinary man can reach heights of extraordinary levels. It shows us that we
are all capable of greatness and everyone of us has this potential within if
we are willing to make the right sacrifices.
One day, a wise old sage was passing through a town he had never
visited before. He was just about to leave the south village of the town
when he noticed the most divine fragrance in the air. He couldn’t believe
what he smelled. It was as sure as the ears and eyes and as strong as
anything he ever knew. The scent was of the Garden of Eden. He had
never in his life experienced the wonder of this scent.
The sage followed the scent to a modest cottage at the foot of the hill
nestled by a small spring. He knocked on the door with great excitement
hoping to find the source of such a wonderful aroma. An old man
answered the door, “May I help you?,” the he said. “I hope so. I know
that in this home is the Garden of Eden and I must find its origin. May I
come in?,” the sage asked. The old man was strong and fearless and felt
no sense of danger so he easily let sage inside. Inside the sage looked
around the entire home and came to a closet. “May I open the closet?,”
he asked. “By all means,” replied the old man. Inside, the sage found
hanging a putrid, molded, frayed, tattered, stained and vile jester suit.
The sage knew this was the source of the Garden of Eden for its sweet
aroma was palpable — it was coming from the suit! The sage
immediately drilled the old man for all information regarding the suit and
the old man relayed the following story:
Years ago, I was living in this very town. The town was quite different back then,
but nevertheless life was good and I had a decent life. I was quite poor though. I
often needed to beg for food and many times never had any food at all. I did
however have many friends. I was blessed with many good friends and I truly did
feel rich. One evening, after a meager dinner, I headed to bed only to be
disrupted by a knock at the door. It was my good friend Noah from town. Noah
appeared to be in trouble. He informed me that his daughter was very ill and she
appeared to be dying and that he needed to pay for his daughter to be
transported to the main city 20 miles north for treatment or else she would die.
Noah came to me to borrow any money that I could possibly spare. I told my
friend that I had nothing myself tonight to hardly eat and unfortunately could offer
no money to him. Noah was devastated. I was his last hope and he knew that
without medical care, his daughter would soon be gone. Now I knew many people
in town and I thought of an idea and told Noah to go home to his daughter and
wait for me and I will get the money he needed. Noah was puzzled but thrilled
and left for home. Without thinking I knew what I had to do. I needed to see the
rich miser who lived at the top of the hillside and I needed to beg him for the
money. I went to the rich miser’s home and knocked on the door. The door was
answered by his servant and I begged to see the rich miser and pleaded for a
chance to speak with him. The servant let me in and showed me to him. I
explained the story about Noah’s dying daughter and asked the miser for money.
Now the old miser lived alone for many years for many reasons. He was a selfish,
mean, cruel and hateful man who hoarded his money and shared with no one.
The miser immediately told me no and demanded me to leave. I fell to my knees
and pleaded and begged for the money. And with this grand gesture, the miser
was inspired to change his mind and decided to have a little fun. “I will give you
the money you need under one condition. Do you see the jester suit hanging?”,
the old miser pointed to an ornate, gaudy and shiny circus like jester suit fit with a
multi pointed hat that hung in the corner of the room. “That suit I purchased
during my travels last week. I was hoping to hire a local fool to entertain me
during my dinners, but I believe you would be just the fool I am looking for. I will
give you the money you need, if you put the suit on and enter ever pub in town
and make a fool of yourself. Jump on the tables, yell — do everything possible to
get kicked out. And do that in every pub and when you return I will give you the
money you need.” I remember feeling ill and I felt as if my face turned white. The
prospect of doing what the miser asked frightened me, but I remembered Noah
and his daughter and I knew I had to do it. So I put the suit on and left the
house headed for the first pub. On the outside of my body was the shiny and
circus like jester suit complete with a multi pointed hat. And on the inside of my
body was fear filling my bones and sickness in my stomach. What greeted me as
I entered the first pub was an onslaught of laughter. Patrons heckled and called
me names. I jumped on the table tops and jumped across the bar inflaming
everyone with rage and anger. I was beat up. I was kicked. I was spat on. I had
food thrown at me. And I ultimately was kicked out on the street. It was an awful
experience and I felt I couldn’t endure it again. But, I remembered my dear friend
Noah who needed my help and knew what I had to do. I visited a total of ten bars
that night. In each bar patrons kicked me Beat me. Spat on me, threw food and
ultimately threw me out on the street. After the tenth bar, I hobbled back to the
miser’s home. The miser was waiting for me and he began to laugh with such
amusement after laying his eyes on me, “You are the town fool after all!” I stood
there dripping with blood, food, dirt and defilement. I was bleeding and the suite
was torn to shreds. “I have never so thoroughly enjoyed myself. Here take the
money, it was worth it,” the miser said to me as he handed me the money and he
too kicked me out. Suddenly, through all the pain and humiliation, I didn’t care. I
knew I had gotten the money for my friend and somehow it was all worth it. I
couldn’t deliver the money to Noah personally, I was too beaten. Instead I got a
child to deliver the money to Noah and I decided to go home. When I arrived
home I fell to the ground and passed out. And that is the story behind that suit
you see in the closet. I kept the suite to remind myself that if we are willing to
sacrifice ourselves a bit, we can probably make anything happen. Noah’s
daughter was sent to the near by city and got her treatment and survived. What I
did was worth it. She is now grown and is a mother and a wife and I am the
godfather to her five children. Noah and I have been very close since then and
have become the closest of friends. I feel truly rich in life. I am happy and joyful
and feel loved.”
The old man finished the story and realized the sage was in tears. “This
is truly the most beautiful story I have ever heard and now I see how this
suit has the scent of the Garden of Eden”, the sage said. “I have met in
my life many great people. Popes, bishops, priests, rabbis, scholars,
author and leaders, but till today I have never met a truly righteous man
like you. I see you have a place in the world to come.” The sage
thanked the old man for his time and story and left, taking with him the
awesome lesson that anyone of us can reach greatness when we are
willing to make a sacrifice for another person. The sage now saw that true
spirituality is taking responsibility for others and when we are willing to do
this anyone can be righteous.
