The Blind Man and the Elephant

Posted on | July 1, 2009 | 1 Comment

(no, it’s not a political thing, really)

So, yesterday, a pair of uniformed young lads knocked on my door to tell me of another “testimony” of Jesus Christ. Our conversation ended with them asking me “Oh. Well. Then, is there anything else we can do for you, ma’am?”  I can only wonder if they would actually ask their elders the questions I posed to them. And wonder if either of them had caught our germs.

But anyway, their visit jogged my memory of this poem. Kinda made me think of how some are so limited in their ability or desire to know Him better and yet feel it safe to come to conclusions about God. “Some” can include me: often I forget how Truly Great He Is. It’s too easy for me to think there is no way out of a serious circumstance when in fact God is more than able to change it (or even change me!).

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT
John Godfrey Saxe

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
” ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

Category: God is Great
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Comments

One Response to “The Blind Man and the Elephant”

  1. Julie
    July 2nd, 2009 @ 5:08 am

    Hey!!! Someone who would understand when Jeremy or I say, “I see, said the blind man… the elephant is rather like a tree.” This is a well known story in our house.

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