Carrying only what belongs to me.

There was once an order of monks that took three strict vows. A vow of celibacy so strict that they were not allowed to so much as shake hands with another person, a vow of charity in which the monks vowed to give up everything to help those in need, and a vow of complete silence. Only Abbots were permitted to speak while preaching and teaching.

The order was split between two locations. Half the monks resided in the village church where they cared for the needy villagers. This was difficult heartbreaking work, for the village was plagued with hunger, illness and despair. The other half lived in a cloistered farm atop a mountain where they studied and worshiped while raising crops and livestock for the hungry in the village. While the labor could be intense, it was a quiet and peaceful place to be.

Whenever there was an opening at the cloistered farm, the village Abbot would send a worthy monk to fill the space, for the farm was the more desired of the two locations to live.

One day the village Abbot received notice that there was an opening, but the village Abbot struggled with whom to send. He had what he thought was two equally worthy candidates, Brother Joel and Brother Eli. He decided to send both Brothers to visit the farm for two weeks so that the Abbot of the farm could decide who to admit into the cloistered community.

As the two monks traveled on their two day journey they came to a river raging with the spring thaw of mountain snow. The high waters wiped out the only foot bridge so the monks decided to cross the river by jumping from a boulder to a log and then to another boulder at the narrowest point in the river. As they made their way safely across the river they noticed a mother carrying her young child in her arms attempting the same feat.

As the woman was midway across the river she lost her footing and fell into the rapids, clutching her child. The woman franticly fought to keep herself and her child afloat but was swept downriver by the strong current. The monks raced along the riverside reaching out to her with their walking staffs and tree branches. They even removed the ropes from around their waist and threw them out to her but it was to no avail. The woman was simply too far away to reach anything thrown in her direction.

After what felt like hours of struggle the woman’s fatigue got the best of her and she slipped beneath the water’s surface. The monks stood on the shore in utter shock. Out of pure instinct BrotherJoel jumped into the river, swam to the woman and dragged her and her child safely to the shore. Realizing that her nightmare was finally over the woman was overcome with joy and began hugging and kissing the monk, thanking him for what he had done. Brother Eli stood in disbelief as he witnessed Brother Joel breaking one of his vows.

The monks continued on their journey. Once they reached the farm, Brother Eli immediately began to whisper to anyone who would listen what Brother Joel had done. Brother Eli and others continued to retell and exaggerate the story whenever they thought they were out of earshot of the Abbot.

At the end of the two weeks the wise Abbot rang a bell to call all the monks together. It was then that the Abbot would pick who would remain at the farm and who would return to the village. The ceremony was simple the one who received a white rope to wear around his waist would stay and the other would be sent back to the church in the village.

The Abbot motioned for both monks to remove their traditional brown rope belts and to hand them to him. The Abbot then looked both monks in the eyes; each could tell that what the Abbot was about to do laid heavy on him. Then the Abbot approached Brother Joel and tied the white rope around his waist and returned the brown rope belt to Brother Eli.

Brother Eli was outraged and broke his silence again shouting, “You don’t understand, he broke one of his vows, he allowed a woman to hug and kiss him. He is not worthy of this honor.”

The wise Abbot turned to Brother Eli and said, “It is true that this man has broken one of his vows. You on the other hand have broken all three. You have broken charity by not doing all you could to help the woman and her child, you have broken the vow of slience many times over and you have broken the celibacy vow in your heart and mind by allowing yourself to relive what he has done over and over again and by sharing it with others to do the same.” The Abbot continued, “He left his transgression at the riverside, but you have carried it here and continue to carry it with you wherever you go. I have no choice but to send you back to the village.”

Is there an unnecessary burden that you are carrying because of something someone else has done? Are you reliving, retelling, and holding onto someone else’s transgression because it makes you feel superior to them or because it allows you to divert attention from your own shortcomings? It’s not too late to lay it back down at the riverside.

May we each have a light and peaceful journey, carrying only that which belongs to us.

Author Unknown

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