There is an ancient story about a
holy man and a spider. The holy
man would come every day to the river and sit to pray. One day, while in prayer, he noticed a
spider. The spider was on the
farthest edge of a limb, which stretched out over the roaring river.
The holy man saw that the limb on
which the spider was perched was cracked and about to break. Being aware that the spider would drown
if the limb broke into the river, the holy man reached out his hand to the
spider.
The spider stung him! The holy man gently cupped the spider
in his hand, and the spider stung him again! Finally placing the spider softly on the ground. Spider stung him again and asked, “Why
did you save me? You knew it was
my nature to sting.”
The holy man replied, “Just because
it is your nature to sting, why should I deny my nature to save?”
We are all both the holy man and
the spider. It is in our human
nature to both save and sting. Do
not deny either. That would be
less than honest. When we sting,
seek forgiveness. Our stinging
comes from our need for survival.
When we save, we claim our God given inheritance. Spiders (ego-driven) sting and human
beings (God-centered) save. Be the
savior, no matter the consequence.
