Emergents Weblog

There’s a well-known Zen parable about the man who was crossing a field when he saw a tiger charging at him. The man ran, but the tiger gained on him, chasing him toward the edge of a cliff. When he reached the edge, the man had no choice but to leap. He had one chance to save himself: a scrubby branch growing out of the side of the cliff about half way down. He grabbed the branch and hung on. Looking down, what did he see on the ground below? Another tiger.

Then the man saw that a few feet off to his left a small plant grew out of the cliff, and from it there hung one ripe strawberry. Letting go with one hand he found that he could stretch his arm out just far enough to pluck the berry with his fingertips and bring it to his lips.

How sweet it tasted!

Jean-Pierre De Caussade wrote the book, Sacrament of the Present Moment. It is a wonderful book that teaches us how to live with joy, recognizing that every moment is or will be made beautiful.

Romans 8:28 is the verse that sparks this thought for me nearly every day. It’s one of the first memory verses and for good reason. Since each moment of life is a unique moment and place in this universe, it would be a shame to spend it wishing we were elsewhere or otherwise.

So when the moment has you hanging from a limb, on the side of cliff, one tiger above you and another below ready to devour you, look around for the berry.