The Spider and the Sage

In India, there is a story about a kind, quiet man who would pray in the Ganges River every morning.  One day after praying he saw a spider struggling in the water and cupped his hands to carry it ashore.  As he placed the spider on the ground, it stung him…

The next day the same thing happened.  On the third day the kind man was knee deep in the river, and sure enough, there was the spider, legs frantic in the water.  As the man went to lift the creature yet again, the spider said, “Why do you keep lifting me?  Can’t you see I will sting you every time, because that is what I do?”  And the kind man cupped his hands about the spider replying, “Because that is what I do.”

I love this story.  I received The Book of Awakening as a Christmas present and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  This story struck me because being  a soft and kind person when it comes to love has often led me to being stung as the man in this story was time and time again.  For so long I have wondered why I continue to do it to myself, why time after time I put myself out there only to be hurt or rejected in the end.  And now I see it’s because that is what I do.  It’s really the reason I do anything foolish that I do.  It’s what makes me, well, me.  And it’s nothing to be ashamed of and there’s no point in trying to change it.  I love that the man says it with such confidence even though he knows the spider will sting him.  He knows that he is meant to lift that spider out of the water because that is what he does. 

Please let me be strong with conviction like him.