“Two monks were walking at sunrise by the banks of a stream, swollen by the early spring rains. As they rounded a bend, they spied a young woman standing in the middle of the stream, holding up her heavy skirt, which was dripping with icy water. She had lost her footing while trying to scramble from rock to rock, and frightened tears slid down her beautiful face. The older monk hitched up his robe, strode out into the stream, and scooped up the woman in his arms. Having carried her safely across, he deposited her gently on the other bank. She thanked him with great relief, and the two monks resumed their journey.
When the sun set, and the monks were released from the vow of silence they kept during daylight hours, the younger monk turned to his brother with fury, shaking his fist and shouting, “How could you have picked up that woman! You know we have vowed never even to look at a woman, let alone touch one. You have broken your vows, sullied your honor, and offended God.” The older monk smiled patiently at the younger man and replied, “My dearest brother, I put that woman down on the other bank of the stream ten hours ago. You are one who has been carrying her around all day.”
Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., in “The Ways of the Mystic”
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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.
