Trying to force the great laws

The great Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (”Zorba the Greek”) tells us that once when he was a boy he noticed a cocoon stuck to a tree, with a butterfly was about to be born. He waited a while, but it was taking so long, so he decided to warm the cocoon with his breath. The butterfly finally emerged but its wings were still stuck together and it died soon afterwards.

“I just couldn’t wait for the sun to complete the necessary process of patient maturation,” says Kazantzakis. “That small corpse is until this very day one of the heaviest burdens on my conscience. But that’s what made me understand what a true mortal sin is: trying to force the great laws of the universe. We have to have patience, wait for the right time and then follow confidently the rhythm that God has chosen for our lives.”

--Paolo Coelho (courtesy of my friend Jay at Bailey's Buddy)

Comments

[Jeremy Nyhuis]

What a wonderful parable! It's funny you mention Kazantzakis, since your post a few days back on "religious naturalism" reminded me a lot of his novel The Last Temptation of Christ (i.e., the idea of the sacred world conflicting with the profane). I just began reading his book The Saviors of God, and much of it seems to be in the nature of this post; I hope to finish it over winter break.

I quite enjoy the information you dig up here and am glad you've returned to posting again. I take it teaching keeps you pretty busy.

A former student of yours,
Jeremy