revcopado
Registered User
(1/19/06 12:19 pm)
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Hiding God stories
Here's some different versions of the "Hiding God" parables, they are not quite they way I tell it in my sermon, and I can't recall what book I got my version out of. I found these through google. I'll cite the sources here too. It's interesting to note the similiarities and differences...
I find it interesting that in the "Catholic" version a king is doing the hiding, in the other versions God is looking to hide itself...I wonder why the first version has someone ofhter than God/Creator doing the hiding...
I'm trying to track down the source of this parable, and different versions...
The first one is from Biship
Bhai Homilies, Leonard O'Souza the Bishop Emeritus of Naypur
India...So it is from the Catholic Church in India
Quote:
A story is told of a king who wished to destroy his people’s superstitious belief in God. He summoned his three wise counselors and said to them, “Tell me where I can hide this people’s God so that they will never find him.”
The first wise man said, “Hide their God behind the furthest star. There they will not find him.” “Not so,” said the second wise man. “One day they will learn to fly and then they will find their God, Hide God, I say, on the floor of the sea and they will never find him.”
“Not so,” said the third wise man. “One day the people will learn to swim and they will swim to the bottom of the ocean and then they will find their God. Rather, hide their God in the everyday lives of the people. No one will ever find him there.”
God did precisely this. He hid himself among the people.
This version is from the website of The
Unitarian Universalist of Northshore
Quote:
A Sioux creation story says that long ago the Creator gathered all of Creation and said, "I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality."
The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the moon."
The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find it."
The salmon said, "I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean."
"No. They will go there too."
The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains."
The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there."
Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, "Put it inside of them."
And the Creator said, "It is done."
This version is from the website of The Indian Holy Woman
Amma (Amritpuri)
Quote:
God decided to create the world. His purpose was to give Himself a place to live. So as soon as He had created this beautiful earth full of trees and plants, animals and birds, mountains and valleys, God began to dwell here. Everything was perfect and God was leading a blissful life. Years rolled by until one day God made a mistake. He created human beings. From that day on, there was trouble. Night and day, the human beings complained to God. No matter what God was doing, whether He was eating or sleeping, they would come knocking on His door.
"The never-ending complaints drove Him crazy. God soon lost His peace of mind. No sooner was one problem solved than another one arose. The first man's solution became the second man's problem. One person wanted rain. But when God granted rain, another person would complain, 'God, how can you do this to me? My whole house is leaking. My crops are ruined.' Everything became a problem. No matter what God did, people complained.
"Eventually God asked His advisors to suggest a way out. One suggestion was that God should go to the Himalayas. But God said, 'No, no. People would soon come there.' 'What about the moon?' asked another of God's advisors. 'Soon man would also make his way there,' God replied. 'You, my good friends, cannot see the future,' continued God. 'But I can. No matter where I go, man will come to know about it. He will follow me and I will again be in trouble.'
"This statement was meant with silence. After some time an aged advisor stepped forward and whispered in God's ear. God's face brightened. 'Wonderful!' he exclaimed. The old man had suggested the perfect hiding place for God. 'Go and hide deep within man,' the wise man had advised. 'Yes. It is perfect,' was God's reply. 'Man would never think to look for Me inside himself. There is no chance that he will find Me there.'"
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