The Fox & the Tiger

June 26, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This quote is also from de Mello’s book, “The Song of the Bird” (p. 79): “A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs and wondered how it lived. Then he saw a tiger come in with game in its mouth. The tiger had its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox. The next day God fed the fox by means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God’s greatness and said to himself, ‘I too shall just rest in a corner with full trust in the Lord and He will provide me with all I need.’ He did this for many days but nothing happened, and he was almost at death’s door when he heard a voice say, ‘O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth! Follow the example of the tiger and stop imitating the disabled fox.’”
Recognizing that this is merely my not-so-humble opinion, I am offering it, nonetheless: From what I can see, we are living in a society that has been (for the most part) well-trained to imitate the disabled fox, not the tiger, and, I might add, it has been and continues to be a path of error.
Yes, I do know what Jesus said about “looking at the birds of the sky,” and about “not being anxious about our provisions,” and about “observing the lilies of the field,” but I also know what He said about our “seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness” and how this is a prerequisite to these “things” being added to us.
It is very difficult for me to imagine how anyone could have, as his priority, the seeking of God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, while imitating this disabled fox.
Which are you imitating, the tiger or the fox?