Thursday, November 13, 2003
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help.
(Psalm 107.12
NRSV)
His search took him to the hut of a wise old hermit. Dressed in pauper's clothes, the king visited the hermit who lived deep in the forest. As he approached the hermit, he saw that he was on the verge of collapse. The king took the spade the hermit had been working with and finished the job of digging his garden.
At sundown, a bearded man with a terrible stomach wound staggered to the hermit's yard. Unknown to the king, the man's wound had been dealt by the king's own guards who were keeping watch in the forest. Gently, the king cleaned the wound, bandaged it, and stopped the bleeding. Night fell, and the king slept on the threshold of the hut.
When he awoke, he tended to the bearded man's wound and checked on the hermit. The wounded man, overcome by guilt, made a confession to the king. He had been lying in wait for the king to return from the hermit's hut so he could kill him. He was seeking revenge for a judgment the king had made against him some time in the past. The king listened intently and then promised to send his own doctor to tend the man's wound. Then he prepared to take his leave.
Remembering his own mission, the king again asked the hermit the answers to the three questions.
The hermit patiently explained that the king had received his answers on the previous day. When the king had come upon the sickly hermit, he had finished digging his garden for him. This was both the right thing at the right time and the most important matter at hand. Had the king chosen instead to leave, he would have been killed by his enemy in the forest. Secondly, he helped the wounded man, which was again, the right thing at the right time. The hermit continued, "Remember then, there is only one time that is important. Now!" And then he added, "The most necessary man is he with whom you are. . . and the most important thing is to do him good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life!"
There is quite a kernel of truth in that little story. There is only one time. That is now. And there is only one reason for life and that is to do good. And the object of that good is any of God's people with whom you or I happen to have contact.
Dear God, may I not wish my time and ability away. Help me do something good today for one of your children. Amen.
