substitute speritual people and faith of choice if needed.







The Rabbi's Gift

A Version with a Twist




There
was a monastery, which had fallen on hard times. Its many buildings had
been filled with young monks and its big church had resounded with the
singing of prayers, but it was now nearly deserted. People no longer
came to be nourished by the prayers and presence of the monks. Only a
handful of old, old monks shuffled through the cloisters and praised
God with heavy hearts.





Nearby,
on the edge of the monastery woods, an old rabbi built a little hut and
came occasionally to walk in the woods. One day, his heart heavy with
the burden of the monastery and the failing of the faith, the abbot
decided to visit the rabbi. After morning Eucharist, he set out through
the woods.





As
he approached the hut, the rabbi greeted the abbot warmly. Across their
differences, there were similarities. Both knew God; both knew the
difficulties of keeping alive the faith in their communities; both were
concerned for the welfare of those they served.





The
only words spoken were the mysterious words of the rabbi, 'The Messiah
is among you' and an instruction, 'you must only repeat this once.
After that no one must ever say it aloud again'.





Finally,
the abbot and the rabbi exchanged an embrace and the abbot returned to
the monastery, pondering the words of the rabbi, 'The Messiah is among
you'. Whatever could the rabbi mean? Could Christ be cantankerous
Brother William? Could Christ be mean and spiteful Brother Stephen?
Could Christ be the one young novice, petulant and withdrawn, and still
to be named? Who could Christ be? The abbot pondered this all afternoon
and all night.





The
next morning, the abbot called the few monks together and shared the
teaching from the rabbi. 'You can never repeat this', he said. 'The
rabbi who walks in the woods says, "The Messiah is amongst us"'.





The
monks were startled by this revelation. 'What could it mean?' each
asked himself. 'Is dirty and sloppy Brother John the Messiah?' 'Is
moody Father Matthew or crothety Brother Thomas the Messiah?' 'What
could this mean?' 'The Messiah is among us?' They were deeply puzzled
by the rabbi's teaching. But according to the instruction, no one ever
mentioned it again.





Days
and weeks went by. The monks began to treat one another with special
reverence and respect. There was a gentle, wholehearted, human, yet
divine, quality about them which was hard to describe but easy to see.
They lived with one another as men who had found something special.
They prayed and read Scripture as men who were always looking for
something. The occasional visitors found themselves deeply moved by the
life of these monks. Before long, people were coming from far and wide
to be nourished by the prayer life of the monks and young men began
asking to become part of the community.


WOLF
Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a
tube.




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