A bohemian enclave
Boy who cried
Posted Oct 26th, 2009 at 11:17 AM by ahmadjee
I am sure everyone has heard of the story, right? Be it falsely yelling wolf, or lion or robbers etc. The end is the same. The menace eats his goats, or him ... he loses. The idea behind the story is to be truthful or it will eventually catch up to you. I think it is very appropriate. Though there is also another subtle message and that is if someone does lie, he deserves a punishment. "He had it coming" kinda feeling, the message that it is very natural for the world to stop caring about a person who is a hibitual sinner.
But I would like to believe that we can be better than the people of the town who didn't pay attention to the boy's third or fourth cry. Because we know that sooner or later his sins will catch up to him and we want to be there for him when that happens, not out of pity but out of compassion. Not because we like to be fooled but because our heart is bigger than his foolishness and we stand on higher moral ground.
Some might say, such compassion is appeasing and only encourages such behavior, which is a valid concern. But I give you the example of AnHazoor (saw) ... do you think he appeased that old woman who would throw trash at him by passing by her door everyday? He could have changed the street he took, or responded with similar gesture, wouldn't that had been a more natural response? I bet she would have stopped throwing that trash. But there is something higher, more beautiful than being natural.
Yes, I would like to believe that if the Holy Prophet (saw) was living in that town where the boy keep crying wolf, that boy and his livestock would still be alive. The story would have had a better, more happy ending.
But I would like to believe that we can be better than the people of the town who didn't pay attention to the boy's third or fourth cry. Because we know that sooner or later his sins will catch up to him and we want to be there for him when that happens, not out of pity but out of compassion. Not because we like to be fooled but because our heart is bigger than his foolishness and we stand on higher moral ground.
Some might say, such compassion is appeasing and only encourages such behavior, which is a valid concern. But I give you the example of AnHazoor (saw) ... do you think he appeased that old woman who would throw trash at him by passing by her door everyday? He could have changed the street he took, or responded with similar gesture, wouldn't that had been a more natural response? I bet she would have stopped throwing that trash. But there is something higher, more beautiful than being natural.
Yes, I would like to believe that if the Holy Prophet (saw) was living in that town where the boy keep crying wolf, that boy and his livestock would still be alive. The story would have had a better, more happy ending.
Total Comments 5
Comments
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This is too deep for Monday morning.Posted Oct 26th, 2009 at 11:18 AM by njgal
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awwww thats such a nice thought but then Hazrat Mohammad (saw) was the noblest of any man who ever existed on Earth.. there is no comparison for his compassion. The story is meant ofr teaching purposes with a moral behind it so I won't want an alternate ending. :-)Posted Oct 26th, 2009 at 11:23 AM by Gemini the Great
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What scares people today about such compassion is that the 'victims' will then most likely keep abusing the system and before you know it you have a whole country full of people crying wolf expecting unprejudiced compassion.Posted Oct 26th, 2009 at 11:46 AM by Cheegum
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its good story , but if you see there are only few who speak truth and rest is doing boys workPosted Oct 26th, 2009 at 12:04 PM by abc abc 1857
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Ricky Gervais: The moral of that isnt never tell a lie. Its never tell the same lie twice.
Posted Oct 26th, 2009 at 02:58 PM by ravage
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