Saturday, May 02, 2009

To See Others: A Meditation




"The man whose heart was hardened by wealth went to Rabbi Eisig. The Rabbi said to him: ''Look out of the window, and tell me what you see in the street.' 'I see people walking up and down .' Then he gave him a looking glass: 'Look in this and tell me what you see.' The man replied: 'I see myself.' 'So you do not see others anymore? Consider that the window and the mirror are both made of glass; but, since the mirror has a coating of silver, you only see yourself in it, while you can see others through the transparent glass of the window. I am very sorry to have to compare you to these two kinds of glass. When you were poor, you saw others and had compassion on them; but being covered with wealth, you see only yourself. It would be much the best thing for you to scrape off the silver coating so that you can again see other people.'"


- Jean de Menasce


Scripture: Luke 16: 19-25

3 comments:

John Ansley said...

I think the Church needs to get back to such basics. And it goes without saying that our consumer-driven materialistic society is out of control. It is, as you have so eloquently said, chained by abundance.

Pablo the Mexican said...

Yeeouch! Hit the bulls-eye.

Great. Just great. Congratulations.

God be with you.

pablo

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Paul Anthony Melanson said...

Pablo, thank you. Your Blog hits the bulls-eye! Tremendous, really. If you don't mind, I'd like to link to your Blog.

God bless you,
Paul
or Pablo.

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