09192021 – Mark 9. 30-37
Goodie Koutalis (a former member, whom we are praying for) posted the following story on Facebook: I thought it would be fun to work with it…
The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is BLUE.” The tiger replied, “No, the grass is GREEN.”
The discussion became HEATED, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming:
′′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is BLUE?”
The lion replied: “If YOU believe it is true, the grass is BLUE.”
The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger DISAGREES with me, CONTRADICTS me and ANNOYS me.
Please punish him.”
The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence.”
The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ′′The grass is BLUE, the grass is BLUE…”
Jesus had just told the twelve for the second time, that SOON he would be handed over, he would be beaten, crucified, killed and on the third day he would RISE to NEW LIFE.
But it was, as if, he had never said a word. His words did not register. The disciples didn’t understand his cryptic words and they had BIGGER FISH TO FRY.
They were more concerned with THEMSELVES, THEIR placement, THEIR order among the twelve.
It was important to understand where EVERYBODY stood.
WHO was second in charge?
What was the PECKING ORDER?
WHO was the spokesman?
WHO best understood the words of Jesus?
Who was HIS favorite?
And most important of all, which of them was the greatest. The GOAT…the greatest of all time…
And so, the twelve argued…while they were on the road.
A couple of them, became REALLY heated.
They SQUABBLED and BICKERED.
At times they almost came to BLOWS…
Their DISAGREEMENTS got loud…but not too loud…They feared Jesus might OVERHEAR.
What would HE say?
Just how WOULD he respond?
So from time to time, out of necessity they QUIETED DOWN.
Their ARGUING actually pulled “others” into the frey.
At one time, they were ALL FEUDING among themselves.
Others on the road, actually looked at them questioningly. These were the disciples of the Messiah? They questioned…Every once in a while, Jesus would GAZE BACK, staring at them, giving them “THE LOOK” all while continuing on his way.
Seeing Jesus’ GAZE, they grew quiet…
But as soon as he walked ahead, they would RESUME their arguments….
They CONTRADICTED one another…
They DISAGREED. They ANNOYED one another, seemingly enjoying every minute of it.
The tiger asked the lion, “Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass IS green?”
The lion replied, ′′You’ve KNOWN and SEEN the grass is green.”
The tiger asked, ′′So why do you punish ME?”
The lion replied, “That has NOTHING TO DO with the question of whether the grass is BLUE OR GREEN.
The punishment is BECAUSE it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to WASTE YOUR TIME arguing with an ASS, and on top of that, you came and BOTHERED ME with that question just to VALIDATE something you ALREADY KNEW WAS TRUE!”
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the FOOL and the FANATIC who doesn’t care about TRUTH or REALITY, but only the victory of HIS beliefs and ILLUSIONS.
Never waste time on discussions that make NO SENSE.
There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND.
Others who are blinded by EGO, HATRED and RESENTMENT, and the only thing that they want is TO BE RIGHT even if they aren’t.
When IGNORANCE SCREAMS, “intelligence moves on.” And even though he knew the answer to his question, Jesus asked, so WHAT were you discussing on the road?
And they were all silent. VERY SILENT. Amen.