Page 53 - The Book of Rumi

Jesus and the Skeleton

esus often traveled from place to place, and various people tended to
Jaccompany him for parts of his journey. On one occasion, as he was leav-
ing a small village, a young man began to follow him. Not long after they had
set out, the young man spotted the bones of some anonymous creature in a
ditch. His curiosity was raised, and, believing that he had discovered an aban-
doned human skeleton, he started to poke the bones with his stick.
“Are you not the greatest prophet on the face of the earth?” he asked
Jesus. “Then you must know the secret of bringing back the dead!”
Jesus ignored his comment, but the man persisted: “Please, great prophet,
teach me how to give life to these useless bones, so that I too can say that I’ve
accomplished a worthy deed.”
Jesus was annoyed and continued to ignore the young imbecile, but the
man wouldn’t relent and repeated his request again and again. Jesus was begin-
ning to lose patience, and, sure enough, he eventually snapped: “Be quiet, this
is no task for a fool! This work requires a soul purer than rainwater, a self
more sentient than angels. You must live many holy lives before you can even
be considered a candidate for such a job. Let’s just imagine for argument’s
sake that you found a suitable staff, but where now is Moses to achieve the
miracle?” Jesus tried his best to make the simpleton grasp the importance of
the issue.
“All right, since you think that I’m not good enough to know the secret
prayer, then you do it. You give these bones life!” he repeated unrelentingly.
Utterly puzzled, Jesus wondered why this apparently ego-ridden man was
so bent on bringing these dead, forsaken bones back to life. He turned to God,
imploring Him to divulge the reason for this challenge, and soon he heard a
voice in his head:
“The piteous always drive themselves into a rueful state. They plant seeds
but sow thorns. And those who sow thorns have no place in the divine Gar-
den. In their hands, every rose will become a thorn. If they fall in love, their

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