A-MUSED

A young monk came to the Master waving a scroll. “Master! A great gift — land, grain, and peace for fifty years. I have only to sign.” The Master said, “Read it to me.” The monk read the large letters. His voice glowed. The Master said nothing. The monk squinted at the small letters crowded at the edges. His voice slowed. Then stopped. “Ah,” he said. “Ah,” said the Master. “As it has…

“It is entirely your fault,” the master repeated, as the disciple stared at him in disbelief. “My fault?” the disciple stammered. “But Master, I try every single day! I sit in meditation, I study the scripts, yet the world constantly interrupts me. My mind drifts, my emotions storm, and the peace I find vanishes in a second. How can this be my fault?“ The master stood up without a word and…

A drunkard knocked at the wrong door. The man of the house leaned out the window and said, “Go away, you’re knocking at the wrong door!” But the drunkard said, “Maybe you’re looking out of the wrong window!” Source: A story in the tradition of Anthony de Mello SJ, from the world of folk wisdom he loved to draw upon. CONSIDER THIS “When you’re upset, your window is blurred. And the fool that…

A certain grammarian embarked in a boat.That self-conceited person turned to the boatman and said,“Have you ever studied grammar?”“No,” he replied.The other said, “Half your life has gone to waste.” The boatman became sad, but kept silent.After a while the wind cast the boat into a whirlpool.Then the boatman cried to the grammarian:“Tell me, do you know how to swim?”“No,” he answered.The boatman…

A professor and a wise fisherman are sitting next to each other on a long flight. The professor says, “Let’s play a game. I’ll ask you a question — if you don’t know the answer, you pay me $5, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $500.” The professor asks first: “What’s the distance from the Earth to the Moon?” The fisherman doesn’t say a word, quietly reaches into his pocket, and hands…

On the afternoon of September 13, 1983, the day when he was elected the 29thSuperior General of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach slipped out of the Jesuit headquarters in Rome to take a walk. An Italian lady saw him leaving the building and asked: “Are you attending the General Congregation of the Jesuits?” “Yes,” he told her. “Well,” she said, “I wouldn’t have…

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish. About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the…

Once upon a time there was an investment banker.  He lived in New York City, was phenomenally successful, and made a ton of money.  But his life was busy, noisy, and very stressful. So, once a year, he would leave the city and go down to a small coastal village in Mexico.  For two weeks he would rest, relax, and allow himself to be rejuvenated. One day he was standing on the pier just before…

A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child. “Why aren’t you out fishing?” asked the businessman. “Because I caught enough fish for one day,” replied the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch some more?” “What would I do with them?” “You could earn more money,” said the businessman. “Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger…

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel …” –Luke 1:26 Bellini has it wrong.I was not kneelingon my satin cushion,in a beam of light,head slightly bent.Painters alwaysskew the scene,as though my lifewere wrapped in silks,in temple smells.Actually, I had justcome back from the well,placing the pitcher on the tableI bumped against the edge,spilling water on the floor.As I bent to wipeit up, there was…

Screenshot There is a wonderful story told by St. Thérèse of Lisieux in her autobiography, Story of a Soul , of an incident that happened to her as a child. Her older sister, Léonie, having outgrown playing with dolls, brought a basket of stuff for making dolls’ dresses to her younger sisters, Céline and Thérèse, with her own doll resting on top of it. She offered the basket to them, saying:…

Screenshot In the misty dawn, a disciple approached his master by the ancient cherry tree. “Master,” he said, “I fear the storm will ruin our harvest. How can I hold onto hope?” The master plucked a falling blossom and held it in his palm. “Hope is not the sun breaking through clouds, nor the promise of ripe fruit. Watch.” A gust scattered the petals. The tree stood bare, naked, yet rooted…

Basil Hume, a Roman Catholic cardinal, tells a story about the God-image his mother gave him in his childhood. His mother called Basil into the kitchen and said, “Son, I’ve just finished baking some delicious cookies, and I’ve put them into this cookie jar. I’m going to leave this cookie jar right here on the table. But don’t dare sneak in here and eat any of them. Remember: God is watching you!”…

A monk was sitting on the bank of a river silently repeating his mantra. Nearby, a scorpion fell from a tree into the river. The monk, seeing it struggling in the water, bent over and pulled it out. He placed the scorpion back in the tree, but as he did so, the creature bit him on the hand. He paid no heed to the bite but went on repeating his mantra. A little while later, the scorpion again…

A scorpion wanted to pass to the other side or the river, but could not swim. So he asked a frog to take him on her back and swim with him to the other side. The frog refused, fearing that the scorpion would sting her in midstream, but the scorpion argued that he would do no such thing, as then he would drown and die himself. The frog understood, took the scorpion piggyback and started swimming.…