Welcome my little lambs to my Sunday Sermon. :-P . It may be the first of many, or it may be my first and last, whatever else it is, it is another excuse to tell you another Japanese/Chinese story and I was inspired to tell this particular story based on a blog I wrote here last year about being yourself.
Before I begin my Sermon allow me to make a few things clear, first I am Pagan so if you are imagining me with a vicar collar, pop that bubble right away buster! Secondly a Gothunk is me, it is not an old school Batman thing like "Pow", "Smash", "Bang", "Wham", "Blam" etc, it is what I classify myself as, part goth (love the dark look) part punk (love colouring my hair) hence Gothunk ... and proud!
Ok Now I got my coffee, 'tis time for the story, the story is about a Stonecutter.
Once upon a time there lived a stonecutter, who, everyday, would rise from is bed, get dressed and after breakfast, would go to the foot of a mountain and cut stone for all sorts of purposes, for gravestones or for housing, and so forth, he was very knowledgable about his trade and understood well the kinds of stones wanted for the different purposes and as he was a good and careful workman he had no shortage of customers and for the longest time he was content and desired no more than he already had.
Now there had been stories amongst the towns folk of a spirit that dwelt in the mountain which now and then would appear to people and help them in many ways to become wealthy and prosperous or achieve their hearts desire. The stonecutter however ignored these stories for for as long as he had worked there, cutting his stone, he had never heard such a spirit, but the day was about to come when he would learn that he was wrong to disbelieve these stories.
One day the stonecutter carried a gravestone to the house of a very wealthy man, and saw there all sorts of beautiful things the like of which he had never seen before, or even dreamed. After seeing such things, his work seemed to get harder and heavier and as he was cutting stone at is usual spot of the mountain, he stopped a moment and sighed. "Oh if only I were a rich man," he said. " If only I were rich and could sleep in a bed with silken sheets and curtains and gold tassels, how happy I should be."
And to his amazement a voice answered him, saying " Your wish is heard, rich you shall be."
The stonecutter looked around but saw no one and thought he just imagined it. He picked up his tools and went home as he did not feel like doing any more work that day. When he reached the place he lived however, he stood still in amazement for instead of his cabin, there stood a grand house filled with the most grand furniture and grandest of all was is bed, in every respect like the one he had wished for, he was beside himself with joy and as a rich man soon forgot the old life as a poor stonecutter.
It was the beginning of summer and each day the sun grew hotter and hotter, so hot in fact that one morning when the stonecutter awoke he could barely breathe. he decided he would stay in doors that day until later in the evening when it would be cooler. The only problem was because the stone cutter had worked hard all his life, he had never had to try and amuse himself to pass the time and he kept peeping impatiently through the blinds to see what was going on outside in the street. As he glanced out one more time he saw a carriage pass by, drawn by servants dressed in blue and silver and in the carriage sat a prince, with a golden umbrella held above his head to protect him from the suns rays.
"Oh if only I were a prince." Said the stonecutter to himself as the carriage vanished around a corner "if I were a prince i could go in a carriage like that one and have an umbrella held over me, how happy I should be."
To his amazement, in a beating of his heart, he was a prince in a fine carriage, before which a company rode§ and another company behind it, and servants in red and gold bore him along and the coveted umbrella was held above his head, everything his heart could possibly desire was his, but still it was not enough. He looked around for something more to wish for and as he did he saw in spite of the water he poured on the grass the sun still scorched it, in spite of the umbrella held over him each day his face grew browner and and browner and he cried in his anger "The Sun is mightier than I if only I were the sun."
The mountain spirit answered your wish is heard, the sun you shall be.
And the sun he was, and proud in his new power as he shot his rays above and below, on earth and in the heavens. He scorched the grass, tanned the faces of the princes and other people, but in a very short time he started to grow weary of his might for there was nothing more to do than tan and scorch and burn. once again discontentment settled in his soul and when a cloud covered his face and hid the earth from him, he cried in his anger, "Does a cloud hold captive my rays is it mightier than I, I wish I was a cloud and mightier than any."
Again the mountain spirit answered and said " Your wish is heard, a cloud you shall be."
And so a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He caught the suns rays and held them and to his joy the earth grew green again and flowers bloomed, but this was not enough for him and for days he poured forth the rain until rivers burst their banks and the rice crops stood in water, towns and villages were destroyed by the power of the rain only the great rock, the mountain, stood solid and remained unmoved, this angered the cloud, "A rock is mightier than I?" he said in amazement. "If only I were the rock."
"Your wish is heard." said the mountain spirit, "The rock you shall be."
And there he stood, the mountain rock, glorying in his power, the sun did not scorch him, the force of the rain and the winds could not move him. "This is better than them all!" he said but then one day he heard a strange noise at his feet, and when he look down to see what it was, he saw a stonecutter driving tools into his surface and even while he looked, a trembling feeling ran all through him, and a great block of rock broke of and fell to the ground, and he cried in his wrath "Is a mere child of earth greater than I ? oh that I were a man again!!!
"Your wish is heard." said the great mountain spirit. "A man once more you shall be."
And a man he was and once again a stonecutter, working at his trade. His bed was hard and his food was scanty, but he had learned is lesson to be satisfied with what he had and not long to be something or someone else, and he never desired anything more than his lot and lived out his days happy and content.
The End
So I am guessing, if you had the patience to read my rather long winded blog, that you are smart cookies and don't need me to tell you the meanings and morals to this tale, you figured that out for yourselves.
But it wouldn't be a sermon if I didn't so here goes. It is ok to dream big and to quest to be a better person and for a better life but I think this story is saying don't do it so much that you completely lose yourself in the process, always be you. The stonecutter wasn't normally an angry man, yet look how many times he got angry there, he wasn't a greedy man, but look how greedy the different powers made him, he lost himself, simples. End sermon. :-P
I hope you enjoyed the story and my blog today. If not I will strive to write better next time.
Enjoy your Sunday and be good...or get good at being bad.
Bright blessings,
Rin.