| Ash Wednesday -The Story of Abba and the Leper |
| Ash Wednesday -The Story of Abba and the Leper |
Once upon a time there was a man named Abba Agathon who made his living making baskets. He would go to the ponds and gather tall, thin reeds and shape them into all kinds of baskets….. big ones, small ones, long and tall baskets. He made ones for bread, for fruits and vegetables and eggs. Then Abba would take his baskets to the market and sell them to the townspeople. With the money he made, he would buy a little food and drink for himself. At the end of the day he would return to his home so he could gather more reeds and make more baskets. Abba Agathon lived a simple life.
One day when Abba went to the pond to gather reeds for his baskets, he was surprised to find only a few short, thin ones left. He gathered the reeds, wove a few small baskets and went in search for more. But even in the places Abba had gathered before, he found only stubble or nothing at all! “Why are there no reeds?” he puzzled. “What will happen if I cannot make my baskets? What will become of me?” Disappointed, Abba realized he had no choice but to take his few, small baskets to the market, for it was all he had.
On his way to market, Abba met a leper, crippled
and ragged sitting along the roadside. “Where are you going” asked the leper. “I’m going to town to sell these baskets,” Abba answered.
The leper replied, “Do me a favor and take me there”. Abba thought to himself, “This man is a bother. He will slow me down.” But reluctantly, he picked up the leper and carried him and his baskets to town.
When they reached the market square the leper said, “Put me down wherever you sell your things.” Abba did not want the leper by his baskets …who would buy anything with this poor, dirty man sitting next to him? But again, he did as the leper requested. In the busy market, a woman came to Abba and purchased one small basket. Almost at once, the leper said, “I am very hungry. Please buy me some food.” Abba did not make much money from the sale of his very small baskets, but he agreed reluctantly and thought “I shall do just this one more thing, and that is all.”
Time passed…Abba sold one more small basket and it wasn’t long before the leper said, “I am very cold. Please give me something to wear.” Abba had made very little money from the sale of his basket and thought to himself, “This is absolutely the last thing I will do for this ragged man.” And he purchased the leper a coat and scarf.
Little by little, Abba sold his few, tiny baskets. Abba looked at the small amount of money he had made. With buying food and clothes for the leper, he had almost nothing left for himself. “What shall I do,” he thought. “I have so little and I cannot find any more reeds to make more baskets. Whatever shall I do?” Abba packed up his few belongings and prepared to go home. “Are you going back?” asked the leper. Abba answered, “Yes I am.” “Then please take me back with you” said the leper. Abba was tired of this bother of a man, but what difference did it make now? He picked up the leper put him on his back and headed for home.
As Abba walked with the leper on his back, he thought how foolish he had been to help this, retched, old man especially when he had so little for himself. All at once, there appeared a fork in the road, one that Abba had never seen. “This is strange,” he thought. “Which way should I go?” As he started down the path on his left, the leper said, “That’s not the way. You must take the other road, the one to the right.” Abba had had about enough of this persistent leper. “All right”, he thought to himself. “Even if it is the wrong road, I shall put this man down and be done with him once and for all.” Slowly Abba walked with the leper, but nothing in the road looked familiar. Finally he stopped and sat the leper down on the ground with a sigh of relief.
“Thank you Abba Agathon. You are blessed by the God of heaven and earth” came a strange voice. Somewhat startled, Abba quickly looked down, but …the leper was gone. In an instant, he had vanished. Abba looked about, but found no one. Then, slowly he realized that he was standing in a pond full of tall, thin reeds, the likes of which he had never seen before. “Where did these reeds come from?” “What is this place?” exclaimed Abba!! Well, needless to say, Abba Agatha was a happy man with a pond full of reeds. enough to make the finest baskets for years to come….He gathered an armful and started for home…with contentment in his heart…for his new baskets and for the ragged, old man he had met on the way to market!
Ash Wednesday Stories |