“God give you a good day, my friend,” he said.
The beggar answered, “I thank God I never had a bad one.”
Then Tauler said, “God give you a happy life, my friend.”
“I thank God,” said the beggar, “I am never unhappy.”
Tauler then said in amazement, “What do you mean?”
“Well,” said the beggar, “when it is fine, I thank God. When it rains, I thank God. When I have plenty, I thank God. When I am hungry, I thank God. And since God’s will is my will, and whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I am not?”
Tauler looked at the man in astonishment. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am a king,” said the beggar.
“Where, then, is your kingdom?” asked Tauler.
The beggar replied quietly, “In my heart.”
A commendable spirit. Yet I remember from Mark Twain the story of the noted general who was shown the inscription on some hero's tomb: "He never knew fear." Then, said the general, he never snuffed out a candle with his fingertips.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I get the point of the comparison. It seems to me that the the beggar realizes that it is easy to thank God for the gift of being when being is comfortable. But to thank Him for the gift of being unconditionally is quite something else.
ReplyDeleteI did not put this well. I meant that for a typical American, to be hungry happens around 5 pm, and to be caught in the rain is an inconvenience, at most a discomfort. Few enough Americans know life-threatening hunger. And apart from a handful of WW II veterans still with us, how many can imagine what outdoor life under the German rains is? Can we understand the story at the level Tauler's contemporaries would have?
ReplyDeleteOh, now I understand. And, of course, you're correct.
ReplyDelete