The Truly Evolved Person

Value: Truth

Sub-Value: Gratitude, Contentment

You can listen to this story on our podcast Sai at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1498462/episodes/10451640

A Rabbi was delivering his lectures from the Hebrew Scriptures. In the course of their studies, the students came across a line that read, “ A truly evolved person is he who continues to smile in the midst of his difficulties.”

The students had a problem here. They were unable to accept this. “How is it possible to smile when we are truly in difficulty? It’s impossible,” they said.

The Rabbi thought it over. He had to concede. “To be honest with you, I myself cannot answer this because I too cannot smile when I am in a difficulty”.

There was an eerie silence.

The Rabbi continued, “However I can help you in this. There is an old man not far from this place. As a child, he had been abandoned and orphaned. As a young man, he lost both his legs in an accident. His life has been a difficult one, with a series of struggles and sufferings. Yet, he always wears a beautiful smile. You must go and ask him how it is possible.”

The students became curious. They went and knocked at his door. It was opened by the man himself who was moving in a wheelchair. He welcomed them smilingly and asked them what brought them there.

“Sir, it’s this text in our lesson which brought us here. It says that a truly evolved person is he who continues to smile in the midst of his difficulties. The Rabbi himself couldn’t answer but he said you are the best person who can answer this. Please tell us how you continue to wear that smile despite all your difficulties and suffering?”

The man said smilingly, “I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong address. I’m 73, and I’ve never faced any difficulty in my life so far. The Lord has always been good to me. He has always protected me and saved me. This being the truth, how can I teach you how to smile in the midst of difficulties?”

The students got the answer: here was a person who lived in close proximity to God.

Learning

We must always have gratitude for all that we are blessed with. Having this attitude will help us to accept situations gracefully with patience.