a great story for us

This is a fairy tale for adults. It
tells the story of a circle that was
missing a piece. A large triangular
wedge had been cut out of it.

The circle wanted to be whole with
nothing missing, so it went around
looking for it’s missing piece. But
because it was incomplete and
therefore could only roll very slowly,
it admired the flowers along the way.
It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the
sunshine. It found lots of different
pieces, but none of them fit. So it
left them all by the side of the road
and continued searching.

Then one day the circle found a piece
that fit perfectly. It was so happy.
Now it could be whole, with nothing
missing. It was incorporated the
missing piece into itself and began to
roll. Now that it was a perfect
circle, it could roll very fast, too
fast to notice the flowers or talk to
the worms.

When it realized how different the
world seemed when it rolled so quickly
by, it stopped, left its found piece
by the side of the road and rolled
slowly away.

Moral of the story

In some strange sense we are more
whole when we are missing something.
The man who has everything is in some
ways a poor man. He will never know
what it feels like to yearn, to hope,
to nourish his soul with the dream of
something better. He will never know
the experience of having someone who
loves him give him something he has
always wanted and never had.

There is a wholeness about the person
who has to come to terms with his own
limitations, who has been brave enough
to let go of his unrealistic dreams
and not feel like a failure for doing
so. There is a wholeness about the man
or woman who has learned that he or
she is strong enough to go through a
tragedy and survive, who can lose
someone and still feel like a complete
person. You have been through the
worst and come through intact.

When we accept that imperfection is
part of human being, and that we can
continue rolling through life and
appreciating it, we will achieved a
wholeness that others can only aspire
to.

And at the end, if we are brave enough
to love, strong enough to forgive,
generous enough to rejoice in
another’s happiness, and wise enough
to know there is enough love to go
around for us all, then we can achieve
a fulfillment that no other living
creature will ever know.