The Merchant and the Farmer

Copyright 1978 by Peter Childress

A merchant, in his time of plenty, was approached by a farmer, in
his time of need, who asked for assistance that he might dig a
well with which to water his fields. The merchant, rejoicing in
his abundance, thought not of his neighbor's need, but sent him
away, for he feared the farmer might drain him of his wealth.

After a season, the merchant, though abundant with riches of gold
and fine silks, went to his larder that he might eat and found it
bare. For in his rejoicing he had partaken of all his food. So he
sent a servant to the farmer, instructing him to purchase food
for the merchant's household.

But the servant returned empty handed, and said: "The farmer is
not in his field, for he could not hire laborers to dig a well
with which to water his seed, and so his crops have withered."

Perceiving he must now go hungry, the merchant became distraught
and lifted his face to the heavens. "What good are my gold and
my silks," he cried to the Lord in despair, "if I have not food
to sustain the body that enjoys them?"

And a Voice replied to him: "It is not through a lack of food
that you are now suffering, but through a lack of love for your
neighbor, the farmer. For if you had shared your abundance with
him in the season of his need, even now you would be rejoicing in
his abundance and yours. Be not deceived by appearances in the
world, for this is the Law: The abundance of one is the abundance
of all, lest the poverty of one become the poverty of all. For in
fear and greed did you plant the seeds of hunger, and in the
passing of the season you now gather what you did sow!"

And the merchant, lamenting of the pain of his hunger and in
regret of his greed, passed out of the earth wiser than he had
entered it.