The Spirituality and Practice website is one of my favorite websites to explore on a rainy day. In one section, they give regular teaching stories. This is one that highlights unity:
An old man is dying, and calls his people to his side. He gives a short, sturdy stick to each of his many offspring, wives, and relatives. "Break the stick," he instructs them. With some effort, they all snap their sticks in half.
"This is how it is when a soul is alone without anyone. They can be easily broken."
The old man next gives each of his kin another stick, and says, "This is how I would like you to live after I pass. Put your sticks together in bundles of twos and threes. Now, break these bundles in half."
No one can break the sticks when there are two or more in a bundle. The old man smiles. "We are strong when we stand with another soul. When we are with another, we cannot be broken."
— Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Women Who Run With the Wolves
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5 comments:
But what if one does not have anyone else to bundle with?
I love the question "anonymous'" (above) asks ...I have actually been thinking about this alot lately...I think the answer (for me during those times in my life when I felt alone) was to go find someone to bundle with for even just ten minutes...go to the library and offer to read for someone whose sight is failing, serve at a soup kitchen, tutor at a school with few after school learning resources...giving never leaves you feeling alone...
Hello Anon
I remember asking this question long ago when I felt quite alone. I was encouraged by MBEddy's idea from Science and Health "Would existence without personal friends be to you a blank? Then the time will become solitary, left without sympathy; but this seeming vacuum is already filled with Love." It was a solitary time, but I got to feel a whole new concept of God as Love. There were mornings where I woke up feeling loved. This became the basis for all the new friendships that developed after that experience. It helped me to see that my happiness was not so much dependent on another person as it was about my relationship to God. ....And thx Kate for that idea about giving. We never know how much we have love until we start giving it away!
Thx again Anon for bringing up an important question!
wonderful analogy! i think it's the same one used in The Straight Story -- that fellow who drove a tractor across the country to visit an estranged brother and heal that relationship. He told the story to a young woman in need. And he walked his talk -- he bundled with his own brother.
it also goes along with something I love from Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.
For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.
But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?
nd if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
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