| |
| |
|
Spirituality Information |
|
|
|
The Pizza Parable
Behold, a certain young maiden did often times and at strange hours greatly desire a pizza. This would often happen in the second or the third watch, when home delivery was not available. At such times there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth because she could not have the desire of her heart. And so she spake thus with herself: "If I would but learn to make my own pizza, then when the desire cometh upon me in the night hours, I shall be able to have pizza straightaway, without waiting for the pizza merchants to re-open when the cock croweth." The following day she sought out the school of one Papa Giuseppe, who gave instruction on the making of pizza. The maiden had not long been in the presence of her new Master before she learned that a pizza base consisteth wholly of flour, water, yeast, salt and sugar. Because she was loathe to wait continually upon her Master, for the many hours of study that he required of his disciples, she departed from his presence straightway after hearing of the ingredients. When she was in her own home, she did search until she had found all of the necessary items, and she put an equal measure of each into a large earthen vessel, and did eat from it. "Pshaw!" she exclaimed, as the ingredients spewed forth from her mouth. "The truth is not in my Master," she reasoned with herself. "This food tasteth badly of salt and yeast. I will go to him and remonstrate him for his deception." "I have not wronged you," said the good Master when he had heard the maiden's story. "If you had continued steadfastly in my word, like my true disciples have done, you would have learned the correct measure for each of those ingredients." The maiden was humbled beyond measure by this new revelation. "Surely, I was too impatient with Master Giuseppe," she said. "I will return to his class a second time, and hear more of what he has to say." And so she listened once again to the words of the great pizza maker, until she was fully instructed in the ways of weights and measures. She did hide all these things in her heart (and on the notepad in her laptop computer), after which she made haste to leave the classroom and return home once again. There she made use of that which she had learned from the Master. Her weights and her measurements were without equal throughout all the land. But lo, her labours failed yet a second time, for that which she produced was of the nature of silly putty. It did take the shape of whatsoever vessel wherein it had been placed. "My hand runneth over," she said upon trying to pick up a piece of the pizza. And upon biting into it, there was not the familiar crunch in which her soul had taken such delight in days gone by. Instead, her mouth was filled with softness, and the taste was that of the glue which the scribes do use when binding their books. She returned to her master, greatly distressed, and did enquire as to why he had taught her such untruths. "But I have not misled you," said the kindly Giuseppe. "The mixture must first be cooked, before it is meet for human consumption." Alas, the poor maiden was humbled yet again. Nevertheless, though she returned many times to the Master's feet, each time she learned a new truth, she believed that she was his equal, and that she had no further need to learn from him. Because of this, her learning was painfully slow. Now there were certain other foolish students like herself, who hurried off to try what they had learned from Papa Giuseppe as well. But when their "pizzas" fell short of the glory that they had so desired, they cast aside all hope of making pizzas and returned to peanut butter sandwiches instead. Their hearts became hardened against the good Papa, and they blamed him for their failures, when it was these foolish students themselves who were the cause of their own problems. Our young maiden was foolish for not being faithful in her attendance at the pizza-making classes; but she was less foolish than her equals, because she returned to learn more when her own understanding failed. So learn a lesson from the foolish young maiden. Follow your Master faithfully, and do not stray from his side until you have hidden in your heart all that he hath to say. And learn likewise from the wisdom of the foolish young maiden. For, if you should stray from the way, do not heap scorn on your Master or on those whom he may have used to show you some small part of the truth. If your efforts fail, return to him and learn again the hidden truths that can only be learned by one who is of a broken and a contrite heart. Dave here: I don't often write "cute" articles like this, because the style can so easily blind people to the message. The message is a serious one. Denominationalism grew from people running off with one truth, and using it as an excuse to scorn those who possessed other parts of the truth. And atheism has grown from the tendency to blame God for our own finite understanding of his will. All who wish to develop into true leaders must first learn how to follow, and to wait patiently for the right time to step out. Dave McKay and his wife Cherry are co-founders of the Jesus Christian communities, with bases in Sydney (where they live), Nairobi, London, and Los Angeles. Their website is jesuschristians.com You can write to Dave himself at fold@idl.net.au
MORE RESOURCES:
Spirituality - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Gracious Forgetfulness For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. --GALATIANS 3:27, RSVI was thanking the Father today for His mercy. Our Body is a Hologram of Living Light We are apart of all that is, our consciousness spring out of the silence, which is known as the voyd or vacuum in Quantum Physics. This first sprouting of consciousness comes out of the silence as waves, a vibration of light. The Star of Bethlehem It was said that Caesar Augustus one night consulted his personal sibyl (fortuneteller) and asked her if a prince greater than he would ever be born. As she searched for an answer in her sacred books, the place was lit up by a meteor that flared in the dark sky. 5 Ways To Learn More About The Orisha The Orisha are the Messengers of Oludumare, the God/dess of the Yoruba Traditional Spiritual Tradition known as Ifa. The Yoruba Spiritual Tradition is centered in West Africa in what is now called Nigeria. Beyond Normal - The Liquid Level Of Consciousness I am not enlightened, and yet, I am no longer "normal." Since you are reading this, I suspect you probably feel the same. Psalms For Prosperity The psalms of the Bible are a literary treasure chest of prayers for prosperity. Below is a list of which psalms to recite for common financial requests. The Easiest Way to Overcome Vanity Vanity - it's easy to mask, easy to forget, and easy to justify. We hide it behind dignity and poise. Contact an Expert Let's say that you have discovered your purpose but you don't know how to go about obtaining God's purpose for your life. You don't know what to do next. Faith - Moves Mountains Faith is the remarkable force that gives us the empowerment to accomplish the ordinary or the seemingly impossible. How many examples of the remarkable empower of faith in action do you know? Mother Theresa, for instance, had faith that God would provide the food, money and the provisions she needed to continue her service to the poorest of the poor. The Emptiness That Binds The Universe What is the opportunity here? What is the benefit of this difficulty? What is the gift? ~ Marc AllenIt's strange--behind the terror and confusion of the world, behind the frustration of things not working out for us or anyone else, and behind the unending battles of struggle--there is an inner joy, a radiance that shines in the heart, an awareness that exists forever. One day, when we have all packed up our toys and gone home, we will look back on these days of earth as a marvelous adventure. Psychic Vampires, and How to Cope with Them! Forget what you have read or seen about vampires. The old image of count Dracula, or even his modern contempories is not what we are going to talk about here. When is it Right to be Angry? Many of us have been taught that it is wrong to be angry. This thinking weighs heavily in both the sacred and secular domains. Insulting Spirit or Exposing the Me While it isn't my intention to insult anyone (Alright, for the purposes of this article it IS my intention to insult any 'one', and I'll explain that later) I would like to offer a few suggestions for your reading enjoyment and/or disdain.For what it's worth, I have examined and explored the Worlds authentic Spiritual Traditions for well over a decade, and have provided hundreds of workshops on Spirituality to thousands of participants. Zen and Peace (The Road To Lasting Harmony) Presently, many of us live in uncertainty. Due to the world situation and the many changes in society, there is a sense that at any time, our lives may be disrupted. Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 10 Matthew 3:7-10 John Rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham. There is Power in Believing I once read a story about a Catholic priest who was a godly person. He was so godly that when he died people believed that his bones had healing powers. Anam Chara - The Flow of Life I am deeply drawn to the above Irish Blessing.This blessing works for me on very many levels. Accessing Your Spiritual Guidance For the last 35 years, I have been working with individuals, couples and families, as well as business relationships. I have 8 published books on relationships and healing, some of them best-sellers. Chicken Soup with Chopsticks: A Jews Struggle for Truth in an Interfaith Relationship (excerpts) Does God care if I marry a gentile?Even as I started dating a Chinese girl, I knew I was embarking on a remarkable adventure. I just had no idea where and how far the adventure would take me. How To Walk On The Path Of Peace (Part 3) As you grow in wisdom, you will release, more and more, self-limiting beliefs, which are transient, and become aware of the powerful role you play in bringing change to the whole.Through your meditations knowledge of eternal principles is realized, and the power, which results from meditation, is the ability to rest upon and trust those principles.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |