This parable begins the parables that are not included in the book but which are available for download from Paraclete Press if you purchase the book directly from them. Unlike the book, these parables do not include commentary... so I'm on my own.
This story tells us of a man who comes upon an injured fox in the forest and sees a tiger approach with fresh game in its mouth. After eating its fill, the tiger gives the rest to the fox. This happens a number of days until the man decides that the lesson to be learned is that God will provide. He goes into the forest and waits... and waits... until he is nearly at death's door from starvation and cries out to God that God has been absent. God speaks - "O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth. I do not want you to imitate the disabled fox but rather to follow the example of the tiger."
I'm struck by how easy it is to clearly see the actions of God and yet miss them entirely. And at how the history of people of faith so often reflects us learning exactly the wrong lesson because of that. Add to that the hubris that many reflect that they know God's yearnings as clearly as their own and we have a recipe for a mess. We end up with people drawing lines and building walls, claiming privilege and private blessings, turning away from the other... when the lessons we are to learn are exactly the opposite.
I try to be more humble than that... but it is entirely possible that I am blind to my own preconceptions.
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