Just Passing Through

A traveler was passing through a Russian village whose rabbi was renowned throughout the land for his holiness. So he stopped by to see the holy man. He was shocked to see how bare and stark the rabbi’s room was. It had only a wooden table and stool, at which the rabbi sat prayerfully reading the scriptures. “Rabbi,” the traveler asked, “where are your possessions?” The old man looked upon the stranger and replied, “Stranger, where are yours?” To which the stranger answered, “Rabbi, I don’t have any with me, I’m only passing through.” The rabbi smiled and said, “So am I.”

We, like the traveler and the rabbi, are just passing through, so we don’t need anything of our own, as Benedict tells us. All things should be in the common possession of all, so that no one presumes ownership of anything. This simplicity of lifestyle frees us for all God’s surprises.

Sr. Veronica, OSB