There is an old Egyptian tale about a boy named Miobi who came to a village where the people acted strangely. All the villagers did was moan and groan about almost everything. Nothing got done. All because they were expecting to get eaten by the monster at the top of the mountain.
Miobi looked up and sure enough there was a monster. It had a head like a crocodile, a body like a hippopotamus and a tail like a fat snake. Smoke and fire came from his nostrils. Miobi decided to take on the monster. He climbed the mountain and as he climbed and got closer to the monster, the monster became smaller and smaller.
When he finally reached the cave instead of a giant monster, he found a quiet little creature the size of a frog. It purred. He picked it up and headed back down the Mountain. He showed the villagers the small animal. What is your name, the villagers asked?
I have many names, the creature replied, some call me famine, some pestilence, some call me war, some call me cancer. But most call me “what might happen”.
How many of us are stalked by the monster in our lives of “what might happen”? We back away from challenges in life, even at time from speaking out for justice and good, because we are afraid of failure or criticism.
In the parable of the dishonest servant Jesus calls us beyond our comfort zones to take up the cross of selflessness and compassion. He urges us to risk everything in order to realize the love of God in all things. To follow Jesus is not to fear what might happen but to find hope in what could happen.
In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “you see things and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not?”
That is the attitude we disciples of Jesus should have in our lives.
Image: “Plushes Cool Monster” by SOCIALisBETTER is licensed under CC BY 2.0.