Like most world religions, Islam teaches its inner truths not in doctrines and creeds, but in parables and teaching stories. (Paraphrased from Idries Shah, Tales of the Dervishes, p. 132-33)

Dervishes use a certain, popular parable to teach students to be open minded.

It is part of their curriculum. And it dates back to the 13^th century.

Not only did Rumi include it in his writings; it is found in the classic from which Rumi studied, the Divine Book of Attar.

I picture the master telling this parable to his disciples, all gathered around sitting on pillows, and then sending them off to contemplate the story.

Parables teach not by explaining answers, but by teasing them out of students.

The story is about a little caged bird who reasoned with his captor:

"I’m of no use to you, in this cage. Let me go." But the captor refused.

The little bird promised, "If you let me go, I’ll give you three pieces of advice."

This advice, taken together, is so powerful that it can change your whole life.

The man thought for a moment, and then agreed: I’ll let you go, but you must give me your first advice while still in the cage.

The little bird said: "My first piece of advice is this: Lose regrets. Whatever happens, don’t waste time regretting it. Life is too short. Just get on with life. Even if you lose something very valuable—do not regret the loss."

The man thought for a moment, and concluded: "Yes, life would be much easier without dwelling on the past."

So the man opened the cage door and let the bird fly free.

The bird flew to the top branch of a nearby tree, and said: "My second piece of advice is this: Never take things at face value. Never believe anything that doesn’t make sense to you. Do not get upset about things when you have no proof. Things are not always as they seem."                                                                           TOP

The man pondered: "Yes, it is too easy to believe everything we are told. Life would be much easier if I did my own thinking.

Feeling satisfied the man said, "What is your third piece of advice.                                 

The little bird flew up to the mountain-top, and with loud laughter, shouted back.

"You are a foolish man. I have a huge jewel inside of me. If you would have killed me and cut open my body, you’d have wealth beyond measure.

The man became angry, and shook his fist in the air: "How dare you trick me. You nasty bird! At least give me the third piece of advice."

The bird replied, "You are foolish because you have not followed the first two pieces of advice. I’m too small to have such a jewel in me."

"You are believing something ridiculous, and grieving for what is not really there."

"The third piece of advice is to follow the first two, and you will discover a hidden world of spiritual wealth to which you are now blind."

George Stephanopoulos, ABC News Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent, hosted a program on 20/20 this last week.

He examined so-called "Red" and "Blue" states.

He explored how our nation is so intensely divided.

The cameras searched small-town America, where people march with signs in the streets, and gather in churches to listen to preachers shout about political issues.

The political-left versus the religious-right.

The emotional intensity in our political division appears to be as angry today as it was during the civil war.

The program examined a study that researchers conducted.

How people in a group tend to come to agreement with the strong voices in the group, even if their own opinions are not as strong.

For the most part, people do not think for themselves, but give way to strong, authoritarian voices.

        What jumped out for me in the text for today is precisely this.

How "faith" asks us to think for ourselves, even when we are alone in our beliefs.

It’s subtle in this text … but it’s there, and seems to resonate with the other lectionary passages for today.

Mark uses a "sandwich technique" in telling his stories.

This form is interesting: Mark starts telling a story, then he interrupts his story to tell another story, and then he returns and finishes the first story.

He "sandwiches" one story within another.

He weaves his themes together, so the point of the inner story helps explain the complexity of the outer story.

In this passage, beginning with 5:21, Jarius approaches Jesus and falls to his knees.

Here is a leader in the synagogue, asking Jesus to heal his daughter.

So Jesus strikes off for the home of Jarius. A large crowd follows.

A second story break into the first at 5:25. A woman who has suffered with an affliction for twelve years approaches Jesus.

She has been to many physicians, spending all her money, and her condition has grown steadily worse.

She believes that if she just touches the hem of Jesus’ garment, she will be healed.

She touches it. She is healed. Jesus turns to find who touched him, and she confesses.

Here, Jesus says something strange.

Jarius, the crowds, the disciples, this woman—all assume that it is Jesus who heals.

Yet Jesus tells this woman, "It is your faith that made you well."

Then the first story picks up again at 5:35. The people loose their faith.

News comes that Jarius’ daughter is dead.

People believe it, and begin to grieve.

Jesus redefines the whole situation. "The girl is not dead. She is sleeping."

He gives them a new picture of what was going on.

But the people laugh at Jesus. They do not believe. Their lack of faith contrasts sharply with the faith of the woman who touched Jesus.

This laughter is reminiscent of Sarah’s laughter, Abraham’s wife, at being told something seemingly impossible.

"How ridiculous, someone as old as I, will bear children."

Sarah’s laughter has echoes throughout the chambers of history, and is still heard in every dark corner of doubt.

When Jesus arrived at Jarius’s home, he took only a few people in to see the little girl. He didn’t want all that doubt with him.

He says: "Little girl, raise up."

And the twelve year old little girl gets up.

Ponder that! The combined impact of both accounts is that healing depends on the faith of the people.

In the passage we will look at next week, Jesus goes to his home town where, as it says, people didn’t believe in him.

The passage says that because people didn’t believe, Jesus could do very little.

        We create our destiny by the way we look at it. And each of us can choose our own     perspective.

        This is the power of belief!

        This is the ultimate meaning of freedom.

I saw a neat commercial on TV, this last week.

The camera focused on an impala, standing alert on the planes. Ears up.

The camera focused on a lion, crouched in the bushes.

Suddenly, the lion broke into a sprint.

The camera switched. The impala broke into a sprint.

A picture of the lion, running full speed.

A picture of the impala running full speed.

Riveted to the screen, I waited for the lion to overtake the impala and bring it down.

But when the two came into view, it was the impala that was chasing the lion.

The way they had creatively edited the film, the impala overtook the lion, took it down, and there it lay, below a cloud of dust.

The impala stood proud, over his defeated foe.

The caption read: "Rethink everything!"

        As the poem from some anonymous author goes:

Two men look out from prison bars.

One saw mud. One saw stars.

       Or like David and Goliath.

The Israelites lined up on one side, and the Philistines, on the other.

Instead of doing battle, they each would send out their strongest fighter.

Goliath stepped forward, a big, muscled man. Legend has it, nine feet tall. Well armored.

Among the Israelites, no soldier volunteered.

They said, "This Philistine is too big, we can’t possible win."

A little shepherd boy stepped forward, David.

He said, "This Philistine is so big, I can’t possibly miss."

Five smooth stones, and one fallen Philistine.

An outcome made possible by the chosen perspective taken to it.

Change the perspective, and you change the outcome.

       I came across a story on the Internet, this last week.

An executive of a multi-million dollar corporation was driving down the highway with his wife.

They were low on gas, so they pulled into a run-down gas station.

The rich executive, neat suit and tie, got out of the car and went into the station.

He put a few items on the counter and waited for the clerk.

He glanced out the window.

And there was his wife, visiting with the gas-station attendant.

And they were having a great time.

The attendant would say something and she would laugh.

She would say something and he would laugh.

It made the rich executive very nervous.

The rich executive left the items on the counter and hurried back to the car.

They drove off, his wife smiling and waving at the gas-station attendant.

He heard the attendant shout as they drove off, "Great talking to you."

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Oh, that was my old, high school boyfriend," she said. "We dated steadily just before I met you."

"Oh," said the rich executive."

In silence, they driving down the highway. The rich executive finally spoke.

"Aren’t you glad you married me?" he said. "If you’d of married him, you’d be the wife of a gas-station attendant instead of the wife of a rich executive."

Without pause, she responded, "Honey, if I’d of married him, he would be the rich executive, and you would be the gas-station attendant!"

See how much confidence there is in a simple change of perspective?

Our freedom of faith is not defined by what others tell us.

Our freedom of faith is not defined by what happens to us.

Our freedom of faith is not defined by the structures of culture nor the creeds of tradition.

Our freedom of faith is defined by our perspective, and the inner determination we bring to it.

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