The Parable Teller

The Healing Tree

2011-03-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

A woman heard rumours of a tree whose leaves were a healing balm and whose fruits contained the secrets of heaven. Longing to eat the fruits, she visited Sabar, the village mystic, to ask if he knew more.

Sabar advised her to visit Arif the wise one. After months of travelling, she arrived at the mountain dwelling of Arif.

Arif merely told her to come closer to the secret, she'd have to seek the council of Hakim the Sage. Hakim sent her to Majzub the Mad, and Majzub sent her on to Alek the Scientist.

She continued her search for many years until, finally, in an orchard just a few minutes walk from her home village, she arrived at the tree she sought.

Standing beside the tree and watching for anyone who came to eat of its fruit was Sabar the mystic.

"Why didn't you tell me you were custodian of the tree?" the woman asked.

"You would not have believed me," Sabar replied. "And besides, the tree only bears fruit once every thirty years."

Tiger Tracks

2011-03-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Deep in the Indian jungle, a hunter searches for the tracks of a tiger. He chances across a small village and asks the inhabitants if they can show him the tiger's footprints.

"I can do better than that," says the village chief. "I will show you the tiger himself."

The hunter's eyes fill with dread.

"I'm not looking for the actual tiger," he says, trembling. "Just the footprints."

The Missionary

2011-02-24T10:40:00.000-08:00

A young Latin American woman, in her desire to serve God, trains at missionary school, learning how to take Jesus to the poor people of her country.

Finally, after years of training, she is ready to be sent out as a missionary. She joins the landless people, walking with them in their march for justice, laughing with them when they are joyful, crying with them in times of sadness.

"I was trained to take Jesus to the people, to share Jesus with them, to be Jesus to them," she told me.

"But that's not how it worked," she continued. "Jesus was already there. I found Jesus among them. The poor people were Jesus to me."

Buried Treasure

2010-08-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Three times Rabbi Eisek dreams the same dream: there is treasure buried under a certain bridge in Prague.

After the third dream, he packs his belongings, leaves his home town in Krakow, and starts walking the three hundred mile journey.

After two weeks the Rabbi finally arrives in Prague. There is a soldier guarding the bridge, as he dreamed.

He tells the solider of his dream.

"If I believed in dreams, I would have journeyed to Krakow long ago," the soldier replies. "Three times I dreamed about treasure buried in Krakow under the fireplace of a Jew named Eisek."

The Rabbi leaves Prague immediately and after just one week he arrives back home in Krakow.

Digging up the ground under his fireplace, Eisek discovers the treasure, just as the solider said.

The Empty Stage

2010-08-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

In one of the world's most prestigious universities works a gifted philosopher. With his powers of genius he instantly demolishes any idea he comes across. From the works of ancient philosophers to the latest scientific theory, he can immediately see the flaw. Art and religion he dismisses as "imaginative fantasy" with no basis in fact or logic.

He wins every argument he takes part in. Soon no one dares disagree with him.

Still he feels unsatisfied with his life, and bored of his status as the world's greatest thinker. He sets a challenge: if anyone can defeat him in argument, he will relinquish his position to them.

The world's brightest minds come forward to challenge the philosopher. Theologians argue for the existence of God. Writers try to convince him of the value of literature. Scientists rigorously defend their theories.

All are defeated.

One day, a young lady knocks on the philosopher's door. He can tell she has no special intelligence, and he almost laughs her out of his office but for her meek beauty and her shining eyes.

"Come with me," she says.

The philosopher is intrigued, and follows her through the city. As they walk, the philosopher finds out the young lady is an actress, but she will answer no questions about where they are going.

They arrive at a small theatre. In front of the stage are three seats: one for the philosopher and one for the actress. The third seat is taken by a man who introduces himself as the director of the play they are about to watch.

The play begins. However, as soon as one of the actors walks on stage and begins speaking, the director shouts: "Clear the stage."

This happens many times.

Eventually the philosopher storms out. The young actress follows him.

"What kind of joke was that?" he shouts at her.

"Please, be calm," the actress says. "You are angry because I showed you a mirror of yourself.

"I know you are a man of great genius, and it is unlikely I could never understand your academic arguments. But I do know this: each time you come across a new idea, you demolish it simply because you have the power to do so.

"You are like the director, shouting, 'clear the stage, clear the stage', and the actors obey because he has the power."

To this the professor has no reply.

After a few moments silence, the philosopher confesses he has lost the argument.

"I will resign this evening, and you will have my seat at the university tomorrow," he says.

"I do not want your seat," the actress replies.

"What do you want then?" asks the philosopher.

"I only ask you one thing: that you share your university seat with imagination and wonder. Instead of looking for the flaw in everything, look first for the beauty."

The professor agrees to her terms.

During the next fortnight, his life is completely transformed.

On Wednesday afternoons he starts going to the theatre. Thursdays he spends at the local art gallery. On Fridays he pray at the mosque, Saturdays he is found at the synagogue, and on Sundays he goes to church.

Within weeks he is dismissed from his post as a lunatic. As he leaves his office for the final time, he dances out into the rain, happier than ever before.

Never again does he feel dissatisfied with his lot in life.

The Poisoned Well

2010-08-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

In a far away city, a wise king rules his people with justice, mercy, and kindness.

In the city is a well of fresh, clear water. This is the city's only water source and all the city's residents, including the king, drink from the well.

One night a witch, sent by the king's enemies from a distant land, poisons the well. All who drink of the poisoned water will be overcome by madness. As she slips away, she is seen by the watchman who guards the well.

The watchman reports the witch's actions to the king. Morning soon arrives, and before the king has made a decision, the people of the city begin to drink from the well. By noon all the city's residents, apart from the king and the watchman, have turned mad.

Still the watchman and the king do not drink from the well.

People begin to whisper to one another - the king is behaving strangely lately. Rumour spreads the king has lost his reason.

"We cannot be ruled by a madman," they say, and come together to overthrow their ruler.

As the rebellion begins, the king orders a goblet of the well's water to be brought before him. He and the watchman drink from the goblet.

When the mob reaches the hall's of the palace, the rebellion is quelled and the people rejoice: They see the king has regained his wisdom.

Lost in the City

2010-07-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

A homeless man spends his life begging in one of the world's greatest cities. Passing tourists and other visitors to the city often ask him directions to the nearby palace.

If the tourist asks without giving a coin, he directs them to the palace: to the end of the street and left.

If, however, they give him a coin, whether it is copper, silver, or gold, the homeless man gives them elaborate directions, sending them far from the palace into the city's grimy backstreets.

For many years, the homeless man does this without any complaints, until one evening, a tired and bedraggled tourist comes to him.

"I followed your directions precisely," the young man says. "You know they did not lead to the palace. I spent the whole day lost, wandering the city streets when the palace is just around the corner from here.

He continues: "I gave you a generous gift in exchange for your directions. I can see you are a kind man. Why did you deceive me?"

Indeed, kindness is shining in the homeless man's eyes, like he has seen the beauty of heaven.

He stands up and embraces the tourist.

"You are the first to come back and find me," the homeless man says. "I will remember this day forever. Even if I never see you again, I will keep the memory in my heart."

The young man smiles, but he is still confused.

"Thank you, old man," he says. "But you still didn't answer my question. Why did you send me into those dirty backstreets?"

"The directions were my gift to you," the homeless man says. "You too will remember this day forever. How you were lost in the city. The littered streets and graffitied buildings you saw.

"I know this because it is the one thing I have learned from life, and it is my secret to share."

"What is your secret?" asks the tourist.

"The secret is simple, but you will do well to remember it," the homeless man says. "And I will tell it as my second gift to you, because you returned to find me."

He pauses, then whispers the secret in the young man's ear.

"You never feel so alive as when you are lost."

The Camel on the Roof

2010-07-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

There was once a king famous for both his great wealth and his desire to understand religious matters. One night he wakes to a terrible stomping on the palace roof above his bed.

"Who's there?" he shouts, afraid.

"A friend," a voice replies. "I've lost my camel."

Hearing this sends the king into a rage. This is ridulous.

"You fool!" he says. "What are you doing, looking for a camel on the roof?"

"You fool!" the voice replies. "What are you doing looking for God while you wear silk pajamas and sleep in a bed made of solid gold?"

These simple words fill the king's heart with dread. He rises from his bed, and that night renounces his kingship. He sells everything he owns and gives the money to the poor. From that day until his death he lives as a pauper in the slums, searching for God among the destitute.

The Enchanted Boots

2010-07-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

Many centuries ago a wealthy merchant makes it his life's aim to discover the source of all pleasure. A holy man, whom he greatly trusts, tells the merchant pleasure is one of the most difficult things to find, but if he looks carefully, he'll be sure to find it in all the corners of the earth.

Determined to reach at least one of the earth's corners in his lifetime, the merchant employs a magician to make him a pair of enchanted boots. Wearing the boots the merchant can travel five leagues in a single step. As soon as the boots are finished, he begins his journey.

The merchant spends his whole life searching, striding across stunning mountains and lush valleys, rushing through scorching deserts and the snows of winter. Each night he collapses in bed, weary from walking. Each morning he wakes at sunrise to continue his search. But as days turn into months, months turn into years, and years into decades, he never finds what he seeks.

On his death bed, back in his home town, the merchant calls for his old friend, the holy man. He explains how he never finished his search.

The holy man looks puzzled, then he notices the boots still on the merchant's feet.

"Ah," the holy man says. "You have enchanted boots."

"Yes," the rich man explains. "They take me five leagues in a single step. I had them made by a magician to hasten my search."

The holy man laughs.

"Then of course you never found what you were looking for," he says. "With such great strides you will have stepped right over it."

The Determined Monk

2010-07-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

A young monk desires more than anything to discover enlightenment. He asks his Master how long it will take to achieve his goal

"No less than ten years," the Master says.

The monk explains his determination. He will devote every waking hour to his search. He is no usual monk.

"I see," the Master says. "In that case, I should recalculate my estimate."

The monk smiles.

"It will take you no longer than twenty years," the Master says.

The monk is confused. Again he explains his determination. He will even devote his time asleep to his quest.

"I understand," the Master says. "Such passion means I am forced to change my estimate. You are indeed a rare case."

Relief is visible on the monk's face.

"Thirty years," the Master says.

"No, no, no," the young monk replies. "You don't understand. I want this more than anything."

"I see," says the Master with the smile. "Again, I must change my estimate. You will take no less than forty years to attain what you seek."

The Zen Teacup

2010-07-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

An American university professor resigns from his post to go in search of the mysteries of life.

Not long into his search, he visits the home of a renowned Zen Master.

"I have come to find the secrets of enlightment," the Professor says as he takes a seat.

The Zen Master bows, and fetches a pot of tea. He begins to pour into the professor's cup. The cup fills to overflowing, and he continues pouring. Tea is spilling out over the table, onto the floor.

Eventually the professor can hold his tongue no longer. "The cup is full," he says. "It can hold no more."

The Zen Master smiles.

"You are like the cup," he says to the professor. "You are full to overflowing with opinions and ideas and grand theories.

"If you are to find what you seek, you must first empty yourself. How can I show you enlightenment when you are already full?"

The Monkey and the Fish

2010-07-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

A monkey sits in the rainforest trees, watching the mighty river flow past in great torrents. The rains visited in the night, and the river is roaring.

As monkey watches, he notices a fish trying to swim upstream, struggling against the strong current.

Being a kindhearted monkey, he decides to help the fish. At great risk to himself, he climbs onto the lowest branch above the river, hangs by his tail, and plucks the fish out of the water.

He places the fish on the dry ground beside the river. At first it wriggles in grateful excitement, then it goes still. Monkey decides the fish must be exhausted from its struggle in the river.

Monkey smiles to himself, a smile of glowing pride. He has done a good deed. He has helped someone other than himself.

The Thousand and One Rooms

2010-07-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

In a faraway land, not so long ago, the people lived under the oppressive rule of a tyrant king. Any man who dared insult the king was immediately imprisoned, and in this way all uprisings were suppressed.

The people nonetheless grew disgruntled with the king, and out of their ranks a young farmhand emerged. With inspiring and elegant rhetoric, he brought together thousands of the king’s subjects to march into the capital city to demand freedom for their children and lower taxes. So many marched that the king’s prisons could not hold them all. So the king demanded his loyal soldiers to capture the leader of the rebellion, which they did, and he surrendered immediately, for the people had no weapons. The rebellion was quelled.

As punishment for leading the uprising, the farmhand was placed in solitary confinement. Still, he was a charming young man, and he quickly made friends with his guards, who also had some sympathy with his cause, and they helped him to escape.

As soon as he was free, the farmhand led another uprising. The king, furious, ensured he was captured again. The farmhand was placed in the maximum security prison cell and put under the constant guard of ten loyal soldiers from the nation’s toughest regiment.

Still, the farmhand was charming and managed, over the course of a few months, to make friends with all the soldiers who were guarding him. Eventually, at risk of their own lives, they helped him escape, and he led another uprising.

The king again had him captured. This time he ordered the farm hand to be brought before his throne.

“Three times you have defied me,” the king said. “And I have come to admire your courage. You surely deserve to die, but I am a man of mercy, and I will offer you the chance to live. Not only that, but you will have the freedom to wander my palace, to explore all of its one thousand and one rooms rooms, even my private chambers, and to request any of your whims and wishes of my servants. Your every appetite will be met.”

He demanded that the young man immediately be taken to a celebratory feast, hosted by himself.

The farmhand, hungry as he was, accepted the invitation of the meal, thinking to himself that he would leave immediately afterwards to start another uprising.

However, the temptation of exploring the castle proved too great, and as he began to walk its many corridors, he became lost in its luxury and splendour. Soon he forgot to think of escaping.

The king’s plan was a plan of genius.

Never again did the farmhand lead an uprising of the people. In fact, he chose his own prison, spending his whole life inside the walls of the castle.

Seeing their leader enjoying the luxuries of palace life, the people of the land became bitter and disheartened. For as long as the king reigned, there was never another uprising for justice in the land.

The Two Artists

2010-07-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Two brothers go out into the world to seek their fortunes as artists.

Many years later they are back visiting their home town. The elder brother offers to take the younger out for a meal. He can afford an expensive restaurant: he has learned to mingle in high society, and he is well kept among them.

"Tell me about your paintings," the younger brother asks over dinner.

"Oh I haven't painted anything yet," the elder brother says, as though this should be obvious.

"Why's that?" asks the younger, surprised.

"I have searched this world far and wide, I have looked in every corner of the globe, and I have yet to find anyone with such perfect beauty for me to feel inspired to paint them," the elder explains.

Then he asks: "Now, little brother, you are dressed in rags. What keeps you so poor? Artists are much esteemed in high society. All you need to do is find a benefactor."

"I've yet to make any money from my drawings and paintings," the younger one says, his eyes shining. "I live among the poor and wretched, as one of them. Everyone I see is beautiful. I struggle to put my pencil down at night for all the beauty around me."

He takes out his notepad to show his elder brother. The drawings are deeply human, vibrant with life, but the elder brother pretends to be unimpressed.

"Do these wretches pay you for your scribblings?" he asks.

"Sometimes in pennies, or a meal. Most of them cannot afford to pay me. But it's the joy I see on their faces, when I show them a drawing of themselves. For me that is more than payment enough."

The Angry Lion

2010-07-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

A lion, rejected by his pride, took out his anger on travellers who passed on a nearby road. Everyone who set foot on the road was mauled by the lion, including the hunters sent to shoot him.

Eventually, a local wise man agreed to confront the lion. As he walked the road, the lion pounced, pinning him to the ground with a mighty roar.

"You want to maul me, don't you lion?" the wise man said, looking up at the lion calmly. "Go ahead."

The lion was confused by the wise man's strange response. He did not maul the wise man, but looked into his eyes, and was overcome by the gentleness he saw there.

The wise man said: "Listen to me, friend. Will you promise not to maul anyone on this road from now on?"

The lion agreed, and began a new life of gentleness.

Soon everyone in the nearby villages learned of the lion's transformed character. Boys would run out along the road to tease him, pull his tail, jump on his back, and throw stones at him. But still, the lion kept his promise to the wise man.

When the wise man next walked along the road, he saw the lion again. His mane was reduced to scraggly tufts of hair, and his body was bruised and covered with scars. He walked with his head down, looking at the ground.

"What happened?" asked the wise man.

"You said I mustn't maul anyone. But people can be so cruel."

The wise man replied: "I asked you not to maul anyone. But I didn't tell you not to roar!"

The Colour of Heartache

2010-07-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

A school teacher asks her class: "What is the colour of heartache?"

The children all have different answers.

"Burnt orange, the colour of sunsets, of endings," says one.

"Shining silver, the colour of sharp blades, stabbing at your insides," says another.

"Blue, the colour of woeful music."

"Green, the sign of new growth, new beginnings."

"Red, the colour of blood. Broken hearts bleed."

"Dull grey, the colour of heavy lead, weighing down your body."

"Purple, the colour of tender bruises."

"Pearl white, the colour of gnawing teeth."

"Black, the colour of darkness."

"Yellow, the colour of festering sores."

As the children answer, the teacher sits at her desk, drawing with pastels, choosing the colours her class speaks.

When the class has run out of ideas, the teacher shows them her drawing.

With their words of heartache, she has drawn a rainbow.

Why Story?

2010-07-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of the modern world's greatest myths: that we get too old for stories.

Stories Make Us Human

Stories are as vital to being human as food, water, shelter, companionship and dreams. We all live by stories. We narrate our lives and the lives of others as a story. Daniel Taylor writes:

"We live in stories the way fish live in water, breathing them in and out, buoyed up by them, taking from them our sustenance. We are born into stories; they nurture and guide us through life. They give us the best answers to life's big questions, and to most of the small ones as well. Stories make it possible for us to be human."

Stories are not only as vital as companionship. They create companionship. Friendships are forged in the fires of storytelling. We make friends by sharing the story of our lives.

Stories Provoke Imagination

Stories provoke curiosity and engage our creative side. They seep into the imagination and the unconscious. They lodge themselves in the memory. Stories resonate with us at a deeper level than brute facts or raw ideas. This is because stories use the language of image - they activate the creative and logical sides of our brain simultanously. This gives stories an immense power. As Gordon Chalmers explains:

"The rarest and mightiest possession of the human spirit can be discovered only by means of a story and by no other process of thinking."

Stories Inspire Change

Stories have the power to affirm who we are in the present, and encourage us to grow as we enter the future.

Story, unlike advice, is gracious. Stories accept us as we are. They help us to see what is right in our lives. They do not tell us how we should change or what we should be.

At the same time, stories can provoke change. Stories can help us to see what is wrong with our lives, what we'd do well to improve. And they can offer the gentle catalyst and inspiration we need to start on the journey of change.

Stories help us to change because they offer us hope. They allow us to see what we could be - and what the world could be. This is the inspirational power of story - bringing the best of the future into the present.

We are characters in the story of our own lives - we have the chance to play the lead role, to live every day as an adventure. To embrace your story is to accept your freedom to make choices, to choose direction for your life.

Parables are stories with the potential to disrupt the narrative of our lives - to point our life in a new direction. They can shake up what we know and push us - gently - into viewing the world and ourselves in a new way.

Stories Offer Meaning and Escape

Stories can help us find meaning in life, and can aid is in the search for answers to ancient questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What's my relationship with the rest of the world?

Stories need not be heavy. They can be simple entertainment - offering a chance to escape from reality and enter a new and exciting adventure. This role of story is equally important. We choose to live by stories not only because they give life meaning, but also because they make life exciting.