The Rabbi's Gift
The Rabbi’s Gift
There is an old story about a monastery that fell upon hard times. There was a day when the buildings were busy with people and the halls were filled with joyful songs, but now it was nearly deserted. People no longer came to visit and the monks shuffled through the halls and praised God with heavy hearts. So, the Abbot decided to visit a Rabbi who lived in the woods not far off from the monastery. When he came to the cabin door, the Rabbi stepped out to welcome him. Once inside, the Rabbi and the Abbot talked about Scriptures and the goodness and beauty of life. Finally, the Abbot shared his sadness. After what seemed like a terribly long silence, the Abbot said he had to leave. As he stood up to go, the Rabbi said, "The messiah is among you." "What did you say?" Asked the Abbot. I said, "The Messiah is among you." "Who is it?" asked the Abbot. "I cannot say," said the Rabbi and with that the Abbot left. When he got back to the monastery, he told the monks what the Rabbi had said. They were all amazed. They knew that the Rabbi had great wisdom, but somehow it didn’t seem right - how could one of them be the Messiah? They began to wonder. "Could it be the Abbot? He has been a good leader and he has lead us through times we never thought we would survive? Could it be him?" "Could it be Brother Michael? Oh, it couldn’t be Brother Michael. He is such an authority on everything. He is always telling us to do. But, come to think of it, Brother Michael is usually right!" "Could it be Brother Lewis? How could it be Brother Lewis? He is so quiet. We hardly hear anything from him. Yet, whenever we have something to talk about, he is always interested in listening." "Maybe it is Brother William or Brother Thomas?" As time went by, the monks began to treat one another with a kind of reverence that seemed to change everything. They spoke to one another in such a way that is hard to describe but wonderful to observe. Before long the people who came to visit the monastery noticed the difference, and once again their community began to grow and once more the building were busy with people and the halls were filled with song. It does matter how we treat one another. In Christ, Stephen
