Once there was a man who was considered the wisest and most knowledgeable in his land. He was revered and respected by everyone, and many people sought to be like him, and to attain his position in society.
On day, the man decided that, as he had achieved so much in his life, he needed to go and search for God. In order to do this, he decided to withdraw from society- to become a hermit. He would go and live in the remotest cave he could find, where he would seek to find and understand God. So he left his home, and travelled to the remotest cave in the land.
There he remained for a year. He wrangled with himself- God was nowhere to be seen- he argued and debated with himself, but God was nowhere to be found. He poured every ounce of his energy into searching and seeking to understand and know God, but in vain. Finally, he became angry and frustrated, and in a fit of rage scrawled in large letters on the cave wall:
GOD IS NOWHERE
He stormed out of the cave and walked off into the wilderness- a broken man.
Later that day, a shepherd wandered into the cave, in search of a missing sheep. As he looked around he saw the writing on the wall. Being poor and badly educated, he could only barely read, so he had to trace the letters individually, speaking them out loud as he did so:
“ G-O-D, God……..I-S, is……N-O-W, now…..H-E-R-E, here……God is now here….GOD IS NOW HERE!”
The shepherd was overjoyed- he ran out of the cave shouting “God is now here!” He ran back to his family to tell them the news, and they rejoiced at the news that they would be saved.
There hermit in this story seems to me to represent 21st century western society- rich, gifted, complex, advanced- yet paralysed by the over-expectation that this brings, so that we are often bitter and unfulfilled. Developing societies often retain their simplicity, their innocence and are accepting of what they have.
Therein lies the road to contentment…………….
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