Enjoy the Strawberries
To rid themselves of a troublesome lion who’d gotten a taste for human flesh, a team of villagers dig a pit, fit the bottom with razor-sharp bamboo spikes, and cover the top with thatch. When the lion walks over the thatch, he will fall to his death, skewered on the spikes. Unexpectedly, however, a man from a neighboring village falls into the pit instead. To save himself from the spikes, he grabs hold of a vine, planning to pull himself up and climb out. Just then, the lion appears. Frozen in fear, the man clings to the vine. At that moment, a mole pops out and begins gnawing at the vine beyond the man’s reach. His fate sealed, the man notices a strawberry growing on the vine. He plucks the fruit and eats it, saying, “This is the finest strawberry I have ever tasted!”
You are this villager. There is no escape from the pit. The only thing that matters is this: Can you enjoy the strawberry? Most of us can’t. Most of us call for help, curse the vine, curse the mole, curse the Gods or fate or our parents, spouse, boss, or friends. Most of us never notice the strawberry, let alone taste it.
The power of a parable is its ability to reveal the truth before you have time to think about it.
RR
Holy rascals want to change that.