Monday, 11 August 2008
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The Old Man and the Scorpion
by mr. maple 
I stumbled across this "fable" as described by Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest and one of my favorite authors and thinkers:Once there was a very old man who used to meditate early every morning under a large tree on the bank of the Ganges River in India. One morning, having finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the strong current of the river. As the scorpion was pulled close to the tree, it got caught in the long tree roots that branched out far into the river. The scorpion struggled frantically to free itself but got more and more entangled in the complex network of the tree roots.
When the old man saw this, he immediately stretched himself onto the extended roots and reached out to rescue the drowning scorpion. But as soon as he touched it, the animal jerked and stung him wildly. Instinctively, the man withdrew his hand, but then, after having regained his balance, he once again stretched himself out along the roots to save the agonized scorpion. But every time the old man came within reach, the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hands became swollen and bloody and his face distorted by pain.
At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scoprion and shouted: "Hey, stupid old man. What's wrong with you? Only a fool risks his life for the sake of a ugly, useless creature. Don't you know that you may kill yourself to save that ungrateful animal?"
Slowly the old man turned his head, and looking calmly in the stranger's eyes, he said: "Friend, because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting, why should I give up my own nature to save?"
I was puzzled for a while by the old man and his paradoxical behavior. Even though he said it was his nature to save, he still recoiled instinctively from the pain. For him, the conscious decision to save was still considered "natural." Compassion is a choice, an opportunity for us to define and choose for ourselves what we want to be the most characteristic part of our identities, both collective and individual.
Are you most like the old man, the passerby, or the scorpion itself? How have you been convicted to show more grace and compassion in your daily life?
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Comments (14)
Measured inaction is a far greater virtue than unthinking action.
What the gut tells us, what compels us isn't always good and right. There is something called a brain: Use it.
Thanks for not comparing non-christians to the scorpion.
The wise thing to do would be to extend a branch or something for the scorpion to use instead of a stingable hand. Don't christians believe god gave them a brain?
This is a fable, and as such it is intended to express a moral, not give us the smartest and easiest way to do X, Y, or Z. Real life does not always fit into the neat little boxes we want. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
This old man was not unthinking in his compassionate response. He saw the suffering of a creature, and felt moved within himself to stretch out his hand to save the scorpion. Even though he knew full well the pain and suffering that the scorpion would inflict upon him. That follows the example of Christ Himself.
Here was a man, pure, perfect, and divine. He came to Earth to save us humans from "the sin which so easily ensnares us" (Heb. 12:1). He saw our suffering and struggling in a world full of darkness. He came "...to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45) He knew at the beginning of the Incarnation that the people He loved would turn away from Him (Matt 23:33-39). He knew His Disciples would run away. He knew that He would have to die a wretched death, and be put through a great deal of pain to save His creatures.
Why would He do this? Because it was the only way. Nothing we sinful creatures could do would ever please God and take away our sins. We needed the holy sacrifice of Christ to be our atonement, and the double imputation when our sins were placed upon His pure account, and His Righteousness was placed on our blackened ones. This means that now, legally, we are the righteous ones, and Christ is the one who has born all the guilt and punishment for our sins.
I praise God for His mercy and compassion. I gratefully echo the words of the apostle:
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" I John 3:1
I'm probably more like the passerby than I'd like to be. I love that quote, though:
Friend, because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting, why should I give up my own nature to save?
@agnophilo@xanga - The stick thing is actually a good point. People who work at "rescuing" people usually develop boundaries to keep from getting stung unnecessarily.
@AnotherSecondMommy@xanga - Being "unthinking" isn't a merit. My point wasn't about selflessness, it was about common sense. You can be incredibly compassionate and have a brain at the same time.
This fable on second thought seems like a ripoff of the fable of the scorpion and the turtle, where the scorpion stings the turtle and they both drown crossing the river, and when the turtle said "why did you sting me knowing we would both die?" the scorpion replied that it was his nature.
obvious point: i don't think one needs to sacrifice their own safety and comfort over and over in order to successfully help someone out.
if the old man gets stung any more, his hand will be useless. and the scorpion will still be stuck in the tree roots. and then what?
I have a cousin who is a mooch on the welfare system. She has seven or eight children all by three or four different fathers, has allowed hoer children to be abused by the different boyfriends in her life, and, all the while, takes up this victim attitude. There have been tiems of temptation where I wanted to cease praying for her, but I cannot do it....
Good post. I face a similar predicament nearly every summer. We have an above ground pool in our backyard and at least several times during the summer, I find a wasp or bee struggling in the water. Knowing full well it is the nature of these insects to come after whatever they are threatened by, and knowing that by my using the pool net to save them will likely make them feel threatened by me, I do it anyway. I can't bear the thought of allowing even an insect I fear and am annoyed by to drown helplessly when I could save it. It's just my nature to save a being in dire trouble no matter how much I fear or even dislike or hate it. Knowing that it is the nature of the wasps to react they way they do, and knowing they are not aware that I am behind their salvation, I don't hold it against them when they do indeed chase me around the yard until I manage to get in the house before they get me. I still save their brethren anyway.
I wish I could say I feel that I should adapt this same attitude when it pertains to people, no matter their beliefs. But I don't. Because sometimes some people are so toxic, that to continually "save" or "help" them when all they do is hurt you in return, only hurts you more. I've ended more than one "friendship" because of their toxicity's effect on me... there is only so much I can do before the poison affects me in a way that I can no longer do much BECAUSE of the poison. I believe that there are lines, there are points that no matter how much it is your nature to save or help... it becomes okay to back away. One of the things that bothers me most about what is being taught by churches is that you should never say "no", or that it's never okay to say "no, or that you should feel guilty for saying "no".
What good are you to the many if you allow yourself to be destroyed because you tried in vain to do something good for the one?
I guess I am the Scorpion. But then I don't understand what's wrong with me, why people around me claim that they want to save me. I dislike them, so I attack them; since I believe that I do not need to be saved. My situation isn't that bad. They said that I am ugly, and they made fun of me and told me to go on diet and do cosmetic surgery. They told me to put makeup on. They told me to wear more fashionable clothes. They said that everybody should be normal and I should follow the norms. In reality, I do not deliberately make myself different, I am naturally different!!! They told me to be more feminine. Am I not feminine? I sing love songs, I write romantic poems, stories and passages, I appreciate classical and instrumental music, I love philosophy and spirituality, I have quiet times, I am quite contented and peaceful, I pray and study the Bible, I wear skirt, I am quite sensitive, I cry, I feel sad and never hid negative emotions, I am outspoken and likes interaction... Which part of me is not feminine except that I have strong emotions, strong physicality and strong way of saying and doing stuffs? I am wild, does that make me a non-woman???
I think this fable illustrates something we don't always think about-God allows Himself to be so sensitive that He hurts every time we "sting" Him with our rejection. Even as Christians He allows us to reject His gifts and hurt Him deeply. He doesn't make Himself impervious to the pain. But yet He loves us too much to quit trying.
Great post.
@nowayout001@xanga - People may not get it, but God loves you just as you are. He made you unique, and you are breathtakingly beautiful to Him!
Great post. For me- sometimes I am the old man, the scorpion and even the passerby.... it depends on the situation. I do not think God wants us to be any of those three... there is a better way, isn't there?
I am all three.