Point-Counterpoint
A friend of God was in seclusion remembering his Friend when,
all of a sudden, a bright light filled the room. A deep voice said: “O
servant of God, your years of devotion are being rewarded. From
this time onward, you have been relieved of all responsibilities for
praying, fasting, or remembering God. So pleased is Divinity with
you, your every movement and thought are being proclaimed as acts
of worship and shall replace, henceforth, all your works of austerity.
This is the ease which has been promised after difficulty. Such
acceptance is the goal to which you have been dedicated in this world,
and Heaven, for which you have struggled so hard in the present life,
will be granted to you in the next life in recognition of your good
deeds.”
The friend of God replied: “I have not striven for Heaven in this
life; rather, I have sought God and God alone. Moreover, seeking
acceptance by God is presumptuous, whereas being engaged in
service to Divinity and having hope in God’s mercy and compassion
is more suitable. Whatever my spiritual station may be, this has been
achieved, by the Grace of God, through prayer, fasting, and
remembrance of God, so why should I abandon the ship which God
has provided to me for sailing the Ocean of Being?”
As soon as God’s friend said these words, the light vanished and
Satan appeared in his actual form. Smiling, he responded: “Truly,
you are a master of the mystical Way. Your spiritual knowledge has
saved you. I have misled so many seekers away from the right path
through that little stunt you just witnessed -- it’s amazing how a few
lights, with a little razzle-dazzle thrown in, can destroy years of hard
work .”
The mystic remarked: “My knowledge has not saved me from
you. Only God can save me. What comes to us from Divinity is better
than what goes to Divinity from us.”
As the friend of God uttered these words, tears came to Satan’s
eyes. In between sobs, he managed to say: “If only I had met someone
of your spiritual stature, thousands of years ago, I believe my life
would have gone in a much better direction, and, I would now be a
lover of God as you are.”
“Love of God has never been your problem,” retorted the mystic.
“Obedience to God has been your weakness.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” countered Satan. “How can any
of us do other than the will of God? I do what God permits me to
do.”
The friend of God commented: “God, for Divine reasons,
permitted you to do what you sought permission to do. Do not blame
God for the manner in which you exercised the freedom which was
given to you through your creation.”
A eureka expression came across the face of Satan. “My
goodness,” exclaimed Satan, “no one has explained things to me in
this way. I’m beginning to understand. Please accept me as your
student. I vow to follow all of your instructions.”
The friend of God replied: “You vowed to God a long time ago
that you would dedicate your life to misleading human beings away
from the spiritual way. If you are prepared, now, to break your vow
to God, what meaning can your present vow to me have? Besides, if
you have been unwilling to follow God’s instructions, you, certainly,
will not follow mine any which I might give you.”
“But, surely,” argued Satan, “you should have empathy for a
creature in my wretched condition. I have feelings too, you know.
Don’t you think you render someone like me an injustice with your
present attitude?”
“No injustice is being done to you,” the mystic said. “The nature
of justice is to give everything that which is due to it.
“You are like the scorpion who wished to cross a flooding river
but could not swim, and, therefore, implored a passing turtle to
convey him to the other side of the river, giving precedents of
compassion, charity, kindness, and so on, to induce the turtle to do
the scorpion’s bidding.
“The turtle was wary about the intentions of the scorpion and
said: ‘If I carry you, what is to prevent you from stinging me and
causing my death?’
“The scorpion felt indignation with respect to the turtle’s
remarks but managed to say: ‘If I stung you, I would be committing
suicide because you would drown when I paralyzed you, and,
therefore, I would drown right along with you. Your suspicions are
unwarranted, and, if I might add, a little unfriendly. Instead of
trying to be so unhelpful, you should have empathy for beings like
me who have not been blessed with your abilities. Why not try to help
those in need instead of sitting in judgment of them?’
“The scorpion’s words struck the turtle in his soft underbelly,
and the turtle felt badly for having been so cautious and difficult.
‘OK,’ the turtle said. ‘Get on my back, and I will take you across the
river.’
“The scorpion crawled onto the back of the turtle. When the
scorpion was safely aboard, the turtle set off for the far bank of the
river.
“About half way across, the scorpion stung the turtle. The turtle
could feel the poison begin to work and paralysis was rapidly taking
over, and as he was beginning to sink he could only say: ‘Why did
you sting me? You will die as well.”
“The scorpion shrugged as only scorpions can and said: ‘It’s in
my nature.’ ”
The friend of God concluded the telling of his tale to Satan with:
“I have all the empathy in the world for you and your wretched
condition, but I also know it is in your nature to hurt creatures
irrespective of any ramifications such actions might have for you or
for them. Consequently, in your case keeping a respectful distance is
the better part of compassion - for you and me.”
“So,” Satan sniffed, “you acknowledge that inherent in my
nature is this inclination to bring chaos and misery into the lives of
God’s creatures. Why hold me accountable for the manner in which
God has made me?”
The friend of God smiled in a manner which suggested - ‘nice
try’. “What you seem to have overlooked,” remarked the mystic, “
is that you freely chose what God willed for you and, so, therefore,
God served your wishes while, simultaneously, giving expression to
Divine purposes.”
Satan raised his eyebrows, as if to concede the wisdom of the
mystic’s words. I am really enjoying this discussion of ours. Could I
ask just a few further questions?”
“To what end?” inquired the mystic.
Satan smiled in a mischievous and triumphant manner. “Well,
I have been so successful in keeping you from your remembrance of
God – which, if you will recall, is where I came in with my light-filled
entrance – that, I thought I would keep you occupied with other than
God for a while longer.”
God’s friend responded with: “There are many forms of
remembering God. One of these is to remind others about the
dangers of your cleverness so that when you try to pull tricks on
them, as you have with me, they will recall our little conversation,
which you have so enjoyed, and, as a result, those individuals may,
God willing, be able to busy themselves with praising and worshiping
Divinity -- which you will not, at all, enjoy but with which I shall be
quite happy.”
He added: “I believe you underestimate the friends of God –
which is why you have always been jealous of them ... a jealousy
which helped lead to your spiritual downfall. There is a mystery
emanating from the friends of God that you may have sensed but
which you have never come close to understanding or appreciating.”
The mystic studied Satan briefly, as if gauging him in some way,
and, then, continued to speak. “God is reported to have said: ‘I and
human kind were together and loving one another, until I showed
humans the world, and 9/10ths of them left Me out of their love for
the world. Then, I and the remaining 1/10th of human kind were
together, loving one another, and I showed those who remained with
Me heaven, and 9/10ths of this assembly left Me out of love for
heaven. Then, of the remaining 1/10th who stayed with Me, I put
them through great difficulty and many trials, and 9/10ths of that
diminished group ran away from Me in great terror. And, of the
1/10th who remained, I promised to heap such tribulations upon
them as Creation had never before witnessed, and they said: ‘As long
as it is from You, O Lord.’ ”
“Tell, me, now, Satan, do you really think that this latter
assembly of people – the ones whom God placed in such peril and,
yet, who would not turn away from Divinity -- that these sorts of
individual would do anything but laugh at your ignorance and
foolishness even as they do justice to you and give you your due by
following Divine instructions to treat you as an avowed enemy of
anyone who is seeking closeness to God?”
When he heard these words, Satan shrieked and disappeared ...
but not really.
Horizons Menu
|
