Life can be miserable for three reasons: guilts from the past, worries about the future, and anxieties about the present. On the other hand, life can be a great joy to live once these three problems are solved. I have a favorite fable that depicts life precisely.
I have shared this story with you several times, but I am telling it again because the truth must be told and reviewed frequently, or we forget and get sidetracked. I myself get sidetracked if I don’t reconsider these course-correcting p...
Life can be miserable for three reasons: guilts from the past, worries about the future, and anxieties about the present. On the other hand, life can be a great joy to live once these three problems are solved. I have a favorite fable that depicts life precisely.
I have shared this story with you several times, but I am telling it again because the truth must be told and reviewed frequently, or we forget and get sidetracked. I myself get sidetracked if I don’t reconsider these course-correcting parables. Here’s the story:
A man is taking a walk in the wilderness. Suddenly he hears some sneaky footsteps behind him, so he turns around expecting to see a fellow stroller, but it turns out to be a tiger trying to sneak up on him. So, he runs for his life, but soon, he reaches the edge of a cliff, leaving him no more room to run.
He turns around to face the tiger. Like a house cat, the tiger stops chasing when its prey stops running. Then, it tries to position itself to pounce on the man. Suddenly, he sees a vine dangling down the edge of the cliff, so he quickly grabs the vine and slides down the cliff.
When he reaches the middle of the cliff, he looks down to make sure it’s safe to keep sliding down. To his disappointment, he sees several crocodiles on the river bank with their jaw wide open, waiting to eat him for lunch. Now he is stuck in the middle of the cliff.
He looks up and sees the tiger still roaming up there, trying to find a way to catch him. He looks down and sees the hungry crocodiles waiting for their lunch. He looks up again, and shockingly, he discovers two mice—a black and a white—gnawing on the vine right below the tiger.
His anxiety shoots to the roof when he realizes the vine he is hanging on will break sooner or later. He tries to shoo the mice away, but they stop and stare at him for a moment and go back to gnawing. Then he tries to reach for something nearby that he may throw at the mice, but he sees nothing except a big red juicy sun-ripen strawberry in his arms reach.
He loves strawberries and knows that one must be incredibly delicious. Still, he can’t enjoy the strawberry because he is preoccupied with the tiger on the top, the crocodiles below, and the mice gnawing on his lifeline. Helplessly, he looks up at the tiger, down at the crocodiles, and then the mice.
After a long period of looking up and down, he decides to close his eyes, stretch out his arm, unplug the strawberry, and savor it as if nothing is happening. (End of the story.)
That is one of the most famous fables that depicts life. Once, a young lady asked me after I told this story, “What happened to that man after eating the strawberry?” That’s a good question we will answer today, but let’s look at the allegory first.
The vine represents our lifeline. We all slide on our lifeline from our past down to our future or gave. We are heading to the grave from birth, and we fear what lies beyond the grave.
The tiger represents our guilt from our past. Many people live their lives haunted by their past guilt, and that’s why they can’t enjoy life to the fullest.
Some people live with fear for the future. The crocodiles down the line represent the uncertain future. The current pandemic has made us even more insecure about what’s to come next. Fear or worry about the future can cripple our ability to enjoy life to the fullest.
The third common killer of joy is the present anxiety. The mice represent the annoyances that raise our concerns. The black and white mice represent day and night. They stress you out during the day and keep you awake at night. They also represent the time that doesn’t wait for us. Day and night gnaw on our lifeline like clockwork, but no one can stop it.
As a result, we can’t enjoy the juicy strawberry, which represents the gift from God for us to savor.
Some people may deny they have a tiger of their past, crocodiles of their future, or mice of the present. Like the man in the story, some religions teach you to numb your mind by clearing your thoughts and savor the strawberry in denial of the existence of guilt, fear, and anxiety. Denial doesn’t make things disappear, but it will still kill your joy from the inside.
We must solve these common human problems to enjoy life to the fullest. The good news is, in today’s scripture lesson, Jesus reveals the secrets to getting rid of the tiger, the crocodiles, and the mice. With these secrets, you will be able to enjoy life to the fullest. So, let’s begin!
