Young salmon pass through several growth stages: egg, alevin, fry, parr and smolt. As they grow they face many dangers. Still, their direction is downstream, with the current. Likewise, the person of faith starts out feeding on basic teachings & going with the flow. They accept the basics of faith at face value and ask few questions. Distinctions between good & evil, right & wrong seem self-evident. After a year or more, smolts begin adjusting to salt water & grow strong … [Read more...]
Lessons From Geese
by Robert McNeish (1972) Following is a parable for how a community can work together toward a common goal: Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another. Fact 2: When a … [Read more...]
The Rabbi’s Gift
The Different Drum Version by Dr. M. Scott Peck This story was delivered as the message for Sunday, October 24, 2010. There once was a monastery that had fallen upon hard times. It was once a great order, but because of persecution, all its branch houses were lost and there were only five monks left in the decaying house: the abbot and four others, all over seventy years old. Clearly it was a dying order. In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a rabbi … [Read more...]