A famous Sufi sage was approached by one of his disciples who told him, “I know a man who is so miraculous he can walk on water!”
“Big deal,” the sage replied with a yawn, “frogs and mosquitoes walk on water all the time.”
The disciple, eager to impress his sage, said, “I have also met a miraculous man who can fly!”
“So what?” said the sage, “do not birds and butterflies fly regularly and with ease?”
The student, sure he was on his way to impressing the sage, replied, “I have also heard of a man so miraculous he can disappear in one town and reappear, moments later, in another.”
“Yes,” replied the sage, “but so can Satan. All the powers you’ve mentioned are useless. A truly miraculous man is one who loves his fellow human beings while remembering God in all things.”
As disciples we are called to love God and love others. This is much easier said than done. In fact, many times it seems impossible. The sage was right. To manage this is the truest miracle. The apostle Paul felt that without the miracle of loving God and others, all other miracles were useless. That’s why he told the church in Corinth, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear…
Kingdom is Like... 