Tuesday, November 19, 2019

AN ATTEMPT AT QUARRELING

“Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of God.”  (Matthew 5:9)

There is a quaint story from the desert tradition about two monks who lived in the same cell. Their life was very peaceful, but one day, to be like other people, they decided to have a quarrel. What to quarrel about was the question.

One monk said, “I will take this brick, place it between us, and we can quarrel over who owns the brick.” The other monk agreed. It sounded like a good plan. So they sat on the ground facing each other, the brick in the middle.

The first monk said, “This is my brick.” The second monk replied, “No, I believe the brick belongs to me.” Whereupon the first monk retorted briskly, “It is not yours. It is mine!” The second monk replied, “Very well, if it is really yours, take it.”

This ended their attempt at quarreling. The moral of this story is that persons who have forsaken all to follow Christ are not grasping or quarrelsome.

This incident provides us with insight which many Christians in the first four centuries of the church believed crucial for a correct understanding of the Gospel.

-- Jerry Mercy in “Cry Joy!”


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