The Messiah
I want to share this story that I read about a week ago. I'm not going to be able to tell it in exact detail, but the point of it is a pretty interesting one anyways. It is about community.
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A long time ago there was this monastary. This monastary was dying. There were only five active monks in it, and no one came to see them. The monks didn't know what to do. If they didn't do something soon, the monastary would end forever.
As it came upon them, one of the monks remembered hearing that there was this rabbi who, from time to time, would stop in at this hermitage a few miles outside of their monastary. So one of the monks thought, "maybe this rabbi can give us some advice." So he traveled and eventually found the rabbi.
When talking with the rabbi, the monk explained to them their situation. "Look, our monastary is dying. There are only 5 of us left including me" he said. "What can we do?". Well the rabbi counseled him and told him he didn't know what they could do. So the two talked a bit more, and they cried and prayed together, hoping that something would change. They read some portions of the Bible, and had some deep conversations, but when it was time to go, the monk was still saddened. "Isn't there any ideas or advice you can give us rabbi?", the monk said. The rabbi just shook his head and said he was sorry. As the monk decided to part and head back home, the rabbi commented, "There is just one thing. The Messiah is one of you". And that was it. They parted and the monk went back to the monastary.
When the monk got back, the other monks immediately came up to him and asked what advice the rabbi gave him. He told them that the rabbi and him had a long deep conversation and that they had cried and prayed together. He did say as we were leaving something strange, though. He told me that the Messiah is one of us. Isn't that strange?
Well the monks talked amoungst themselves about this. They really started to wonder what this meant. Could the rabbi be serious? Is one of us really the Messiah they asked? Could it be Brother Snider... he certainly is a great man. Full of energy and zest. Maybe its Brother Arnold, he definently is a holy man after God's own heart.. It can't be Brother Jeb because he is just so crude sometimes... but then again he has a knack for always being there for others when there are down.. maybe it is him. Maybe its me, one said.
After this, they all started treating each other with just a deep respect and admiration, for certainly one of them could be the Messiah--they just didn't know which one. As this went on, some people from a nearby town came in one day just to visit, and saw these monks interacting with each other, and just the deep respect and reverence they had for one another. They were in awe of this, and when they got back they told their friends, then those friends went, and were equally impressed and they told their friends. Eventually they had a mount of people coming to their monastary and after some time, a few even started asking how they could be monks.
And the monastary was revived.
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I think this is just an awesome story about community. I want to leave this story for the few of you that read and just really use your imagination when thinking about this. Imagine a community like this. How amazing it could be... What if we thought one of us CRU guys or girls was the Messiah? Would that change how we treated each other? Think about this in regards to community. Think how powerful a true community after God can be..
I want to talk alot more about community, and these ideas, because I am starting to really value that, and can see how important something like this can be. Stay tuned.
-----------------------------
A long time ago there was this monastary. This monastary was dying. There were only five active monks in it, and no one came to see them. The monks didn't know what to do. If they didn't do something soon, the monastary would end forever.
As it came upon them, one of the monks remembered hearing that there was this rabbi who, from time to time, would stop in at this hermitage a few miles outside of their monastary. So one of the monks thought, "maybe this rabbi can give us some advice." So he traveled and eventually found the rabbi.
When talking with the rabbi, the monk explained to them their situation. "Look, our monastary is dying. There are only 5 of us left including me" he said. "What can we do?". Well the rabbi counseled him and told him he didn't know what they could do. So the two talked a bit more, and they cried and prayed together, hoping that something would change. They read some portions of the Bible, and had some deep conversations, but when it was time to go, the monk was still saddened. "Isn't there any ideas or advice you can give us rabbi?", the monk said. The rabbi just shook his head and said he was sorry. As the monk decided to part and head back home, the rabbi commented, "There is just one thing. The Messiah is one of you". And that was it. They parted and the monk went back to the monastary.
When the monk got back, the other monks immediately came up to him and asked what advice the rabbi gave him. He told them that the rabbi and him had a long deep conversation and that they had cried and prayed together. He did say as we were leaving something strange, though. He told me that the Messiah is one of us. Isn't that strange?
Well the monks talked amoungst themselves about this. They really started to wonder what this meant. Could the rabbi be serious? Is one of us really the Messiah they asked? Could it be Brother Snider... he certainly is a great man. Full of energy and zest. Maybe its Brother Arnold, he definently is a holy man after God's own heart.. It can't be Brother Jeb because he is just so crude sometimes... but then again he has a knack for always being there for others when there are down.. maybe it is him. Maybe its me, one said.
After this, they all started treating each other with just a deep respect and admiration, for certainly one of them could be the Messiah--they just didn't know which one. As this went on, some people from a nearby town came in one day just to visit, and saw these monks interacting with each other, and just the deep respect and reverence they had for one another. They were in awe of this, and when they got back they told their friends, then those friends went, and were equally impressed and they told their friends. Eventually they had a mount of people coming to their monastary and after some time, a few even started asking how they could be monks.
And the monastary was revived.
-------------------------------
I think this is just an awesome story about community. I want to leave this story for the few of you that read and just really use your imagination when thinking about this. Imagine a community like this. How amazing it could be... What if we thought one of us CRU guys or girls was the Messiah? Would that change how we treated each other? Think about this in regards to community. Think how powerful a true community after God can be..
I want to talk alot more about community, and these ideas, because I am starting to really value that, and can see how important something like this can be. Stay tuned.
I'd have to say that perhaps Krunky is the messiah. Just kidding; that's a great story man... I'll stay tuned.
michael
Posted by
MW Rice |
11:16 AM