Over the coming weeks, my hope is to share some stories with our community to help us reflect in new and perhaps different ways about life and faith, exploration and growth. My words are inspired by a book I purchased many years ago entitled Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart: Parables of the Spiritual Path from Around the World. During the summer, we like to break out of our routines and take time for rest, relaxation, and perhaps a little reflection. I thought sharing stories might be a nice way for us to spend some time together. Let us pray,
I imagine nearly all of us remember favorite stories from childhood, whether family stories that had been passed down to us and told and retold or special books that were read to us. Often, they hold a special place in our imaginations and help us begin to think about our lives and the world. And for those of us who attended church, we heard the stories from the Bible told and retold from week to week and year to year and begin to form an image of who God is or might be, who Jesus was, and hopefully who we are in relationship to one another.
In the introduction, to this compilation of stories, the authors share this, “Long before the birth of formal religions, story telling was the vehicle for sustaining age-old wisdom. Within the stories, legend, history, and profound truthst about life found their expression. Stories introduced their listeners to a world of magic and mystery, to the possibility of otherness. Stories fascinated and soothed the tired mind at the end of a weary day. Stories too have long been the traditional medium of teaching and learning.
Great masters like Jesus and Buddha excelled in them, and shamans and elders of every tradition have captured their wisdom in stories around campfires and at tribal gatherings, drawing listeners worldwide to a deeper vision of life with images and symbols.
And they suggest that humor is often the central message of these stories despite the fact that we often think that the path of spiritual practice is a very serious matter. While the task of freeing our hearts from fear, misunderstanding, or self centeredness can appear to be a solemn undertaking, there is indeed a place for divine humor. “Listening to the stories of others, learning from them, brings a light to our own understanding. Stories connect us with others, men and women, animals and angels, and in the stories of others, we see ourselves reflected in a different form. We learn to laugh a little at our own absurdities and of the detours we may find ourselves lost in. “ Stories can offer a new perspective. A good story, they note, creates a bridge for us from our our particular life to the universal, connecting our individual life to the patterns and wonders of the whole.”
My hope is that we may discover new ways of listening and new ways of understanding as we listen to some stories this summer.
And now I will share our first story… Page 30 the Abbot and the Rabbi
From the Chassid (What does the Hebrew word Chassid mean?
Hebrew etymology The literal meaning of Ḥasīd derives from Chesed ( חסד) (= “kindness”), the outward expression of love (lovingkindness) for God and other people. This spiritual devotion motivates pious conduct beyond everyday limits.)