Flirting with Faith

Story Time: The King and the Peasant

Thursday March 19, 2009

God decided to become visible to a king and a peasant and sent an angel to inform them of the blessed event. 

'O King,' the angel announced. 'God has deigned to be revealed to you in whatever manner you wish. In what form do you want God to appear?'

Seated on his throne and surrounded by awe-struck subjects, the king proclaimed, 'How else would I wish to see God, save in Majesty and Power? Show God to us in the full glory of Power.'

God granted his wish and appeared as a bolt of lightning that instantly pulverized the King and his court. Nothing, not even a cinder, remained.

The angel then manifested herself to a peasant saying: 'God deigns to be revealed to you in whatever manner you desire. How would you wish to see God?'

Scratching his head and puzzling a long while, the peasant finally said, 'I am a poor man and not worthy to see God face to face. But if it is God's will to be revealed to me, let it be in those things with which I am familiar. Let me see God in the earth I plough, the water I drink, the food I eat. Let me see God in the faces of my family and neighbors.'

God granted the peasant his wish, and he lived a long and happy life. May God grant you the same!  

--Source Unknown, from Blessed Be Our Table (Neil Paynter)
Advertisement
Comments
Cr. Dervish
March 20, 2009 8:02 AM
http://atheist.ie

let's end the fair tale.

Andrea
March 20, 2009 10:43 PM

Love that one Joan! Such a beautiful parable. Nice to see you already have a stalker! Congratulations, every blog need one. Why has Cr. Dervish chosen his screen name as a Sufi Muslim ascetic?

Joan Ball
March 21, 2009 8:55 PM

Hi Andrea: Love that parable as well. As for Cr. Dervish, I can understand his/her position coming from a belief system that does not embrace the supernatural. As long as we all stay cordial, I think there is plenty of room for all of us here...

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.



Please type the text you see in the box below to verify your post and help us prevent spam. You have a limited time to type - you may wish to compose your comment in a separate document and paste it here upon completion.

Type the characters you see in the picture above.

Advertisement

Search This Blog

feed icon Subscribe

RSS Feed

Receive updates from Flirting with Faith

About Flirting with Faith

Joan Ball is a professor of communication and marketing and author of the upcoming book, Flirting with Faith: My Journey from Atheism to Agnosticism to a Devoted Life. A lifelong seeker/skeptic who was raised without a prescribed notion of God, she experienced a dramatic and unlikely conversion to Christianity at age 37. She brings to the Beliefnet conversation an insider/outsider perspective on living a faith that both delights and confounds her.

Advertisement

Advertisement


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.