In this sorrowful world why tamper with anything that lifts our spirits? — Mira, A Scholar, A Lawyer, and A Priest.
In one of her most famous stories Mira tells of a crippled boy who only can watch others play in a well, until one day Krishna arrives and encourages the boy to climb on his shoulders and together they dove into the well. The boy emerged totally healed, and the fame of the well spread. Then a lawyer, scholar, and a priest arrived and in her words “pissed in the water, so to speak.” For the scholar and the priest wrote books about what then people were to believe about the water in the well, and sold the water that for centuries had been free. And the lawyer made their insanity legal. In other words, the three “tampered with something that lifted spirits.”
I bet we all have similar stories. Something that was free and brought us hours of joy is “tampered with” and suddenly the water turns sour. Write in and tell me your story of “tampering” with a gift from God.
Too often we let others tamper with something that lifts our spirits. It might be a bitter colleague who spoils the beginning of our week, or a critic who tells you why the movie you adore is not any good, or the robo-call that interrupts your evening soak in the tub. There is always someone who insists on tampering, but we have to learn to tune them out, and more importantly not become a tamperer ourselves.
So next time you see children at play or swimming in your favorite fishing hole instead of shooing them away, take off your shoes and shirt and dive in. You might emerge healed yourself.
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