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An Allegory

Once upon a time there was a knight and his lady, who lived contently for many years in a southern kingdom. As they aged however, their manor became too big for them and so they decided to relocate in a northern kingdom where smaller quarters were available. They left their friends of many years with a sad good-bye and set off for new adventures. They settled quite happily in their new abode, and joined in all the activities and merry-making until one day, they had to drop out of some of the activities because of their declining years.  No one came to ask them why they were no longer taking part. Instead the rest of the folk in that kingdom ignored them and it became very lonely for the knight and his lady

The king suggested that they might be happier is a neighbouring kingdom and so they moved a short distance and set up house one more time.  This time though things went well for many years.  Then the king died. The heir apparent had many different ideas about what made a kingdom a good place to live and so the knight and his lady became very unhappy again and started visiting nearby kingdom. Once again no one approached them to ask what could be done to help, or to offer some support through the time of transition. So sadly, they packed up one more time and prepared to move once again. This time though they took a little more care, and visited several times before making the final commitment to go.

Some amazing things happened. They were welcomed and treated like royalty, being invited to other manors for dinners, being taken places in coaches, and even being invited on excursions to other kingdoms. And so they lived there happily ever after.

This tale reminds me of the parable of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10: 25-37]. It is only at the end of the fable that the knight and his lady are finally treated by others as those people would like to be treated themselves. To paraphrase Marcus Borg, “Stories don’t have to be literally true, to be really true.” And in that sense, this story is very true.

I believe that in the small, everyday events of life we are continually challenged to live by the ‘Golden Rule’ – and continually fall short.  We are not necessarily called to literally save a life as the ‘Good Samaritan’ did, but we find ourselves challenged in the countless interactions we have with other people. The result of these interactions may not be as readily apparent to us, but by them, we may well have impacted the life of another in a very real and lasting way. Whose life have you impacted today?


Comments

  1. terry dranitsarisDecember 7, 2013 at 3:35 PM

    this is a great tale told over and over again in many fairy tales, Once upon a time. I like to think that all stories end happily ever after, but like you said this is not always the case. The Lord opened a door for me to impact the life of a man who is a recovering alcoholic, he and I met over a year ago very briefly while he sat upon a concrete stoop and we chatted for a few minutes and we introduced ourselves to one another, I told him a little about myself . He was waiting for a ride to pick him to take him to work, I knew in my heart he was a man of little means. He gently asked me if I could buy him a cup of coffee and I said of course and he was very thankful. Then I didn't see him for almost a year. Again it was at the same spot where I came upon him several months ago and we chatted and re introduced ourselves, something told me he had no eaten so I said to him would you like to be my guest and join me for lunch in the diner and he said I would love to thank you so much. I didn't know at that moment how hungry he was or how little he had as we engaged in conversation I began to see his life was dismal but he had hope inside of him, he was a overcoming his addiction by attending AA meeting. He continually thanked me for his lunch to which I said it is my privilege but one thank you is fine..and he smiled and he ate his lunch and was so happy. We spoke about Jesus and God and our parish as the AA meeting are at our Parish, we talked for nearly three hours,. I asked him if he would like to come to church one Sunday with me and meet Father Gordon and Rev. Pam and perhaps find a way to further help him in his recovery. He was so delighted and said yes yes I would love to, well for the past five or six weeks he hasn't missed a single Sunday. I thank God that I was led to find my new friend and also that our Lord is helping him. He came to visit me while I was ill and brought me a card he had made himself. He drew a lovely picture and put lovely words on it. He had no more pencil crayons and so I thought to myself I will surprise him with a new bo\ of pencil crayons and a sketch book, so when he came over the other day to help me with some re arranging of my storage room i gave him the gift he was so excited about it he couldn't believe it. We are both blessed in this story as his heart is humble mild meek and he is loving and wants to serve our Lord, he is very intelligent but because of all the years of drinking it was buried and now he enjoys speaking and he knows a great deal of history and the bible. I am so delighted that I didn't by pass talking to him that day. I know in my heart God Spirit directed me to him. He will be joining me and my sister and my brother in law and my son for Christmas. Nothing makes me more happier than this that there is more happiness in giving than in receiving and that doing unto to others is the best rule Christ gave to us.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lynn EdwardDecember 7, 2013 at 3:50 PM

    Thank you for sharing your story with us, Terry.

    ReplyDelete

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