This post is written for the April blogging #A-Z 2018.
I have chosen the theme Books and Authors for this year.
S – Song of the Bird by
Anthony De Mello S.J
I
purchase two books while I travelled to Venkanni Church, Nagapattnam, which is
a shrine and a pilgrim centre.. I was just married and it was a long journey
and I found some good books, randomly I picked up books which were easy and
simple to read and the two books were by the same author. The first book was the
“Song of the Bird” and the other book was the “Prayer of the Frog”.
I
lost the second book as I do not remember who borrowed from me, but never got
back. The book that I have with me is the “Song of the Bird” . This book
contains short stories for everyone who loves parables, stories that are
Buddhist, Christian, Zen, Russia, Chinese, Hindu, Sufi which are all ancient
and contemporary.
I
loved reading all the short stories as they are full of insights, challenging
your beliefs and thought provoking. It has 197 pages to read and I counted
around 192 parables and short stories to
inspire and reflect.
There
is one page in the book in the beginning which tells you how to read this book –
first time reading will give entertainment. Reading it twice, reflecting and
applying in life will give insights revealing its inner depth and meaning: The
writer encourages the reader to let this book speak to the heart and not the
brain.
I
enjoyed all the parables and short stories: am sharing few of them from this
book..
Don’t Change
I was a neurotic
for years. Anxious, depressed, selfish. And everyone kept telling me to change.
And I resented
them, and agreed with them, and wanted to change, but simply couldn’t, no
matter how I tried.
What
hurt me the most was that, like the others, my closest friends kept urging me
to change,
So
I felt powerless and trapped.
One
day he said, “Don’t change, I love you as you are”
These words were music to my ears: Don’t
change, Don’t change, Don’t change….
I love
you as you are..
I
relaxed. I came alive. And suddenly, I changed!
Now
I know that couldn’t really change till I found someone to love whether I
changed or not.
Is
this how you Love me God.
The Formula
The
mystic was back from the desert
“Tell
us” they said, “What is God like”
But
how could he ever tell them
What
he had experienced in his heart?
Can
God be put into words?
He
finally gave them a formula -
Inaccurate,
inadequate- in the hope
that some
might be tempted to experience it for themselves.
They
seized upon the formula. They made it
a
sacred text. They imposed it on others
as
holy belief. They went to great pains
To
spread it in foreign lands, some even gave their lives for it.
The
mystic was sad. It might have
been
better if he had said nothing.
The Food God
God
decided to visit the earth
So
He sent an angel to survey
The
place before his visit.
The
angel brought back this report;
“Most
of them are starving and
most
of them are unemployed”
God
said.”Then I shall become
incarnate in the form of food
For
the hungry and work for the unemployed.”
The Coconut
A
monkey on a tree hurled a coconut at the head of a Sufi.
The
man picked it up, drank the milk, ate the flesh and made a
Bowl
from the shell.
Thank
you for reading my post, appreciate you … hope you like these parables, would
love to hear your thoughts
Be
Blessed & Be happy!
