"Whose to Say?"

There's a classic Zen story about a Farmer's luck. This is how the story goes, as I remember it:

There once was a farmer with a beautiful horse. One day, the horse escaped and ran away. Upon hearing this, the farmer's neighbor came over and lamented, "Oh, how awful, your beautiful horse ran away." The farmer simply responded, "Whose to say whether it is good or bad."

The next day, the horse returned to the farmer bringing a herd of wild horses along with it. Once again the farmer's neighbor responded. This time, the neighbor exclaimed, "Oh, how wonderful! Now you have a whole herd of beautiful horses!" Again the farmer simply replied, "Whose to say whether it is good or bad."

The next day, the farmer's son was trying to train one of the new horses. In the process, he was bucked off and broke his leg. The farmer's neighbor came over and sympathized, "Oh, how horrible, your son has been injured." "Whose to say whether it is good or bad," answered the farmer.

The very next day, military officials came to the village to draft the young men for a war. The farmer's son was not drafted because of his broken leg. "How wonderful," the neighbor rejoiced again. "Whose to say," responded the farmer.

Most of us live our lives much like that of the farmer's neighbor. Our lives are a rollercoaster of emotion: both good and bad. We are quick to judge all that happens to us as well as those around us. We are quick to label things, events, people, as "fortunate" and "unfortunate".

And yet, I wonder how much more peaceful we might be if we were to live like the farmer instead.

The reality is that tragedy strikes us all. We have each had an experience of our "horse running away". It is easy to get caught up in these experiences, to get immobilized by the pain, to be overcome with worry. The truth is, however, that none of us knows where these experiences will lead us.. none of us knows what will happen next. Perhaps that tragedy is the only road to a future beauty .. or joy .. or love.

Jesus tells us, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life" (Matthew 6:25-27).

Being able to let go of this worry, just as the farmer does, is possible only through a deep and profound trust. As Christians, for us that trust is in God. We trust that God has a plan for us, that His ways and reasons are greater than ours, that He knows what will happen next even when we are clueless. We trust that life is meaningful and that we have a purpose.

Thus, instead of wallowing in each moment of sadness, anger, disappointment, and betrayal, perhaps, we can merely experience them for what they are and then move on. Perhaps we can say to ourselves, "So, this is what pain feels like, or, this is what despair feels like, or, this is what loneliness feels like." After having allowed ourselves to experience these moments, then hopefully we can let them go. In doing so, maybe we can teach ourselves to simply remain open to whatever is to happen next.

I think the same can be true of times of great joy, hope, and peace. Of course we should experience these moments to their fullest. Nonetheless, we do not know where even these moments may lead. If we get too caught up in these moments, we lose our humility and perhaps our drive to continue to do more and be more. And, as the farmer says, we can't finally judge whether an opportunity or event is good or bad until we know what is to come of it.

To me, life should be about judging less and experiencing more. About accepting each moment with even just a grain of respect, peace, and curiosity. About letting go of worry and instead focusing our attention on just being who we are, where we are.