Tuesday, September 07, 2010

purifying the world

(the bride...ready and waiting)


"How do we purify the world?" asked a disciple.

Ibn al-Husayn replied:

"There was once a sheik in Damascus called Abu Musa al-Qumasi. Everyone honored him for his great wisdom, but no one knew whether he was a good man.

“One afternoon, a construction fault caused the house where the sheik lived with his wife, to collapse. The desperate neighbors began to dig the ruins; eventually, they managed to locate the sheik’s wife.

“She said: 'Don’t worry about me. First save my husband, who was sitting somewhere over there.'

“The neighbors removed the rubble from the area she indicated, and found the sheik. He said: 'Don’t worry about me. First save my wife, who was lying somewhere over there.'

“When someone acts as this couple did, she/he is purifying the whole world.”


from Paulo Coelho

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

that is one nervous looking bride

Tracy said...

Purifying the world... love these sentiments... Lovely post, Wanda :o)

margie said...

beautiful image.

Deb Shucka said...

What a sweet story. Add Paulo Coelho to the 25 levels of meaning list.

Wanda said...

Not so nervous really. Just contemplative.

graceonline said...

Once again, tears in my eyes. What a beautiful story. Thank you, Wanda. Purifying the world with love. Yes.

Joan said...

Wonderful - the photo and the story!