The Parable of the Three Questions
(1Sam.26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23; 1Cor.15:45-49; Lk.6:27-38)
Today, Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us. But how might we actually approach this? Leo Tolstoy helps us to understand in his famous Parable of the Three Questions.
There was once a king who wanted to know how to always make good decisions. He decided that if he could answer three questions, he’d always know the right thing to do: When is the right time to do something? Who is the most important person to listen to? And what is the one thing I should always do?
He offered a reward for the best answers, but received no useful replies.
Then the king heard of a wise and holy hermit who lived on a mountain and would only see the poor. So, he disguised himself as a peasant and went to ask him his three questions.
Leaving his soldiers below, he climbed the mountain and arrived hot and thirsty. The old hermit was working in his garden. He bowed silently to the disguised king, and kept on working.
Feeling awkward, the king said, ‘I’ve heard you are wise and understanding. I hope you can help me with three questions: When is the right time to do something? Who is the most important person to listen to? And what is the one thing I should always do?
The hermit looked at him silently and kept on digging. After a while, the king took the shovel, saying, ‘Let me do that. You are tired.’ He repeated his questions, but again there was no answer.
The sun was hot and the hermit offered to resume digging, but the king kept working. At sunset, the king wiped the sweat from his brow and said, ‘I came to see if you could answer my three questions. I struggle with them all the time. Can you help me? If not, I’ll just return home.’
Just then, startled by a noise, the hermit asked, ‘Did you hear that? I think it’s someone running.’ A man emerged from the woods, running towards them. He was badly wounded, and fell in front of the king.
The king ripped off his shirt and tried to stop the bleeding, but the wound was deep. There was a spring nearby. The king ran to it, washed the shirt, and returned to press it against the wound. He did this three times, and the bleeding stopped. The man asked for a drink. The king went to the spring, and brought back some water.
It was dark, and the old hermit and king carried the wounded man into the hut where they all slept well. When the sun rose, the king woke to find the wounded man looking at him intently. ‘Forgive me,’ the wounded man said.
‘Why should I forgive you?’ the king asked.
‘I’m your sworn enemy,’ he replied. ‘I planned to kill you. You killed my brother years ago and took his property. I’ve hated you ever since. When I heard you were coming here, I intended to ambush you, but when you didn’t come down the path yesterday, I came out of hiding. One of your soldiers down the hill recognised me and wounded me. I was escaping when I ran into you. You saved my life! Please, forgive me. I’m ashamed and grateful to you. From now on, I promise to serve you faithfully.’
The king was stunned. He offered to compensate the man for his suffering, and said he didn’t want his service, only his friendship and trust. He promised that his doctor would take care of him, and they left the mountain together.
The king later returned to the hermit and said, ‘Old man, please answer my three questions.’
‘Your questions have all been answered,’ he replied. But the king was puzzled.
‘Look,’ said the hermit, ‘yesterday when you asked your questions and I didn’t answer, you took pity on me because I was old. Instead of leaving the mountain and being killed by your enemy, you helped me dig my garden. So, the right time was when you were helping me, because you had pity on me, and I was supposed to be the person to remember and work with, and the one thing you should always do is have compassion.
‘Later, you took care of the wounded man. He didn’t die and you were reconciled with an enemy and found a grateful friend. It was the right time to help him, he was the one to attend to and what you had was compassion.
The king still didn’t seem to understand, but then it hit him.
‘Oh, the right time is now, for it’s the only time I can control. The person is whoever is right in front of me, and the one thing I should always do is to tend to their needs, doing whatever I can.
The old hermit smiled, ‘Yes, if you bend in appreciation towards whatever is before you, you will always know what to do.’ [i]
[i] Leo Tolstoy, The Parable of the Three Troubling Questions, quoted in Megan McKenna, Luke – The Book of Blessings and Woes. New City Press, New York, 2009: 194-199. (Abridged).