The Wandering Monk
by Rodney Groves
The Serpent
The dawn had come gently and quietly. Slowly the wandering monk awoke from his peaceful slumber to the delightful sounds and smells of the forest. High in the boughs of the pine trees that surrounded him a variety of song birds flitted from branch to branch, bathing in the glory of the morning. A scent of pine and juniper filled the crisp air awakening the monk's senses and filling his heart with joy and gratitude. He felt a kinship to these creatures as he watched them attentively attend to their young. At the very basic level they had needs that were not unlike his own. He slowly gathered up his solitary bowl and sleepily started on the trail to the babbling creek below the ridge.
"Suddenly from the corner of his eye he saw a movement..."
The wandering monk dipped his bowl into the clear cool water of the creek and began to sip, refreshing himself. Suddenly from the corner of his eye he saw a movement on the ground. He turned his head to see that it was a reptile, a snake, a creature feared by many. Instead of cowering in fright, however, the monk felt compassion for the creature, destined to spend its life crawling on its belly. The snake showed no aggression to the monk and the monk, likewise, let the snake go about servicing his own daily needs. The monk watched as the reptile also drank of the clear cool water. "How very similar we are," thought the monk, "How very similar are the needs that we have. I too enjoy the refreshment of the clear cool water of the creek and the beauty of the forest. I too have the ability to injure or kill if I feel threatened. As long as fear is absent, we are One in Spirit."
It was then that the monk heard voices. People were nearby and coming his way. Perhaps creek fishermen or small game hunters he supposed. In a moment two young lads emerged from behind the trees. They had barely acknowledged the presence of the monk when one boy started whooping and hollering. "A snake! A snake! Kill it! Get a rock and kill it!" The second boy grabbed a rock as big as his head and hurled it at the reptile, missing him by hair's breadths. In great fear the snake curled to protect himself, while the boys frantically searched for more weapons.
The monk raised his hand and spoke. "Stop this madness! He was doing no harm, to you or anyone." He took a stick from the boy's hand and coaxed the snake inside his nap bag. "There, now you cannot harm each other. Go on your way, please." Reluctantly the boys tossed aside their remaining weapons and shuffled off down the creek, discouraged that they had been robbed of a killing, justified in their minds, but needless in the mind of the monk. There will be other snakes and other boys he knew, but perhaps someday we can all learn to live in harmony with nature.
The monk laid the opened bag on the ground and watched the snake happily slip away back into the forest.