Parables

"Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ Pay attention to what you hear."
~ Jesus, Mark 4:23

I woke up this morning thinking of a story I have heard several times.  It's one of those urban legend type stories that gets told as if it happened to a friend, a relative, or friend of a cousin.  It probably did happen to somebody, somewhere, sometime.  Or, it may not have happened at all and is pure fiction.  Regardless it is a "true" story about several things: perception, non-communication, generosity, greed, scarcity, and abundance. It can be interpreted and appropriated on numerous levels, both personally and collectively. In other words, it is a parable. And like any good parable the conclusion is left to the reader.  Jesus would have probably told this particular parable with a poor widow and rich young man, or a master and servant, or a beggar and a priest. Here's the way I remember it:

An elderly woman, traveling by bus, had a layover during her journey. She purchased a package of cookies from a vending machine in the bus terminal and located a table. She placed her cookies on the table, sat down, and proceeded to read her newspaper

A young man joined her and, to her surprise, opened the package of cookies and began to eat them. The woman, said nothing, but gave him an icy stare and grabbed a cookie. The young man, with a funny look on his face, ate another cookie. The woman again glared and grabbed another cookie. The young man finished the third cookie and offered the last to the woman.

Completely appalled, she grabbed the cookie and the young man left. Outraged, the woman threw down her paper only to find her unopened cookies on the table in front of her.

There are parables all around us!