WISDOM AND YOUTH

The impatient lad pleaded with the wise man who seemed too slow to see how cruel the world had become. The lad could see it was no use.

Don’t you see? he asked….
I see, sure enough, the wise man said,
but when i see, I don’t see what your seeing sees….

Don’t you know? he asked again
I know, sure enough, the wise man said,
but when I know, I don’t know what your knowing knows….

Don’t you even care then? the lad asked almost giving up
I care, sure enough, the wise man said,
but when I care, I don’t get the feel for what your caring cares about….

“Then what is the point?- we can’t do any good?” said the lad, about to walk away

“But we must all strive to do good, son,”said the old man, gently and with a tinge of sadness “You and me, all of us. But the price of being wise is the courage to ask what good is my doing good doing? If you don’t know that, son, how do you know you are doing good?”

“But surely a pure heart is enough?” he said, confused now,

“Seeing and Knowing and Caring are all exemplary, yes,
and doing good is virtuous, but when you live as long as I have,
you realize that it is never so simple-
too often,those who see are blind,
those who know are ignorant,
those who care, are cruel,
and for all the doing good in this troubled world that we can applaud,
the greatest evils are wrought by those too intent on doing good.

This entry was posted in Contemporary StoriesDiscernmentnarrativenarra
This entry was posted in Narrative Mapping,. Bookmark the permalink.