An allegory applied to relationships

Relationship allegoryImagination is risky when we fill in the unknown. Below is an ancient story I use as a relationship allegory that exposes the mistake of thinking we know when we don’t.

“A man awakened before the sunrise. He decided to walk the path to work in the forest along the river in the dark. He walked the same path for years and he believed he knew it well enough to imagine the path in his mind as he walked.

He began walking and it was beautiful listening to the river and exciting to make the journey in this new way.  Suddenly he tripped and fell. Astounded and bruised he groped in the darkness for what he had tripped over. He found what obviously felt like a cloth bag of stone’s. He also felt anger for the fool who lost it in the path for him to fall over and what good is a bag of stones anyway. Questioning the wisdom of his walk and not wanting more bruises, he slowly made his way by the river deciding to sit until sunrise. He opened the bag in the darkness and felt the coolness and roughness of the stones. He tossed one into the river and it made an amusing sound in the darkness. He began to toss more of the stones while he passed the time. As the sun was rising he reached for the last stone and held it up to the emerging light and began to weep. The stone was a huge rough diamond.”

Using this story relationship allegory reveals more than the innocent foolishness of believing we know when we don’t, it also reveals the good fortune of the person who discovers the mistaken judgment before throwing away what is precious.

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