Epilogue: The Master

There was once a man named Adelphos. He was middle-aged and had worked hard his whole life to care for his family. He was reliable, competent, and of good character. Unfortunately, disaster struck and his family had died of disease some years ago. Grief-stricken, he left his home and became a wanderer. He wandered the roads, hills, and forests in the countryside for some time, doing odd jobs for those he encountered for a small fee, food, or shelter. Despite his grief, he remained a resourceful and dependable man, but something remained unresolved in his life. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew he was missing something, some key ingredient to life which, until discovered, would keep him up at night wondering. He could not shake the feeling that he had missed something grand and spectacular. Being a realistic person, he tried to put it out of his mind, but it would find its way back and he would again be left with a great question looming over him.

It so happened that one day he overheard a woman talking about a great Master who supposedly lived in a cabin in the woods nearby. She had gone to him several times for his expert guidance and wisdom about life. Intrigued, Adelphos asked where he might find this man. The woman told him where he could find this Master and assured him that the Master would have an answer to his questions.

So Adelphos set off for the Master’s cabin. It was late by the time he reached it and, thinking he would wait until morning, bedded down under a tree for the night. The next day, Adelphos was jolted awake. He rubbed his head. It hurt. An apple lay by his side.

“It must have fallen on my head,” he said. Another apple fell into his lap. His stomach gurgled. He picked it up. It was big and crisp. His teeth broke its skin and the juice spilled onto his chin.

“How’s the apple?” asked a voice from above. Adelphos jumped to his feet. A bearded man stood in the tree, lounging against the trunk, eating his apple.

“It’s delicious,” he replied. “I haven’t eaten an apple this good since I left my home many years ago.” The man took a final bite and tossed the core away. He leapt from the tree.

“With such good apples, why would one leave his home to begin with?” he asked.

“You must be the Master I was seeking,” said Adelphos. He took a knee before him. “I’m sorry for trespassing on your land, Master, but I heard tales of you from the nearby village and wished to speak with you.”

The Master puffed out his lower lip, nodded, and handed him another apple. “You look hungry. Have another,” he said. Adelphos took it graciously. The Master eyed him. “Come, let us relax under the shade of my apple tree and we can discuss the matter at hand,” said the Master. He plopped down under its shade. Adelphos shrugged and joined him in the shade.

“So, tell me your problem, traveler. Why have you sought me out?” asked the Master. He bit into another apple. Adelphos pursed his lips and tapped his chin.

“There’s your problem right there,” said the Master. “You’re all knotted up inside. You’re not even ready to respond when someone asks you a question.”

“But it’s an important question and…“ said Adelphos.

“And you’re not entirely sure how to phrase it?” said the Master.

“I suppose so,” said Adelphos.

“If you need to stop and think about it you don’t understand the nature of your problem,” said the Master. He swatted Adelphos’s hand from his chin. “I’ll tell you what, I’ve got a few tasks that need to be completed around here. If you’ll do them for me you’ll gain the clarity you need to ask your question.”

“I happen to be a skilled laborer. Whatever you need,” said Adelphos. He sprang to his feet.

“For your first task, I have some stones which need to be rolled up that hill there. Roll them to the top and while you’re doing it see if you can tell if you’re pushing the stones or if the stones are pulling you,” said the Master.

So Adelphos set to work rolling the stones up the hill. He grunted and heaved, and finished within a couple of hours. The Master was still lounging under the tree when he returned.

“I’ve thought about your question and I do not know whether I was pushing the rocks or if the rocks were pulling me. The rocks could not have made it to the top without my pushing them but it was the need to get them to the top that was pulling me onward.” The Master picked his teeth and gave him a thumbs up.

“There’s a well behind my cabin. I need you to draw up seven buckets of water for my afternoon bath,” said the Master. Adelphos went straight to work. He hauled up a bucket from the well, took it inside the house. poured it into the bathtub, then raced back outside for another. He hoisted the seventh bucket from. He reached for the handle but the bottom dropped out of the bucket and back into the well. Adelphos returned to the Master, still under the tree, and reported what had happened.

“Tell me, when the bottom dropped out of the bucket, did all the water go out at once or did some of it tarry?” asked the Master.

“It all went out at once, of course,” said Adelphos.

The Master nodded, a glint in his eye. “You might say it didn’t hesitate,” he said. He clapped his hands together. Adelphos twitched. “There’s a dead tree on the east end of my property. It needs to be chopped down. Take the ax resting against my cabin and start swinging, but do so on the thin side of the tree. I don’t want it falling on the others.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘the thin side,’ but I’ve chopped down many trees in my time. It will be done,” said Adelphos. He grabbed the ax and headed out. It was an old and gnarled sight to behold. Adelphos inspected it.

“What am I doing? Trees don’t have thin sides,” he said. He checked the area for a clearing. “There’s no place I can drop this tree without it toppling another.” He picked up a stick and broke it against the trunk.

“Harder than it looks, isn’t it?” asked the Master, who stood behind him.

“Trees don’t have a thin side and there is no safe place to drop this one,” said Adelphos.

“It’s of no consequence. Some problems are not problems. They’re just the way things are,” said the Master. “Are you ready to ask your question?”

Adelphos glared at the tree and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Do fools know something the wise do not?”

“Yes, but they are too foolish to realize it,” said the Master.

“So what do they not know that they know?” asked Adelphos.

“That one must commit himself to life even though he does not know how it will end,” said the Master. “And this can only be accomplished when one does not know where he is going.”

“And those tasks you gave me. What was the point of them?” asked Adelphos.

“They each represent a mystery, one that only a fool tries to solve, but in trying to solve them he becomes wise,” said the Master.

“Is that how you became a Master?” asked Adelphos.

“Yes,” said the Master. “I had to throw myself into life at great risk to my health, safety, and well-being. Trying to solve those mysteries forced me to let go of who I thought I was so I could become that which I was destined to be.”

“I always lamented fools,” said Adelphos. “I had a younger brother once who was terribly foolish, always pondering strange things, never focused on the needs of the day. He left to go on a journey. He said there was something about life he just did not understand and ventured into the unknown to discover it, even though it could mean his death. I never told him, but part of me envied his courage. I wanted to stay within the comfort of what I had built, within the comfort of what was known to me. But I see now that I left no space for the unknown to happen. I think that’s why my family and everything we built together is gone now. We shut out adventure and mystery and when disaster came to our door we weren’t ready. My brother was right all along. I never let myself be foolish and in doing that I missed something important about life, something my brother went off to discover for himself. I wonder if he ever found what he was looking for.”

The Master patted him on the shoulder. “Of that, I have no doubt. Now go, pursue your folly and you, too, will become wise. Such is the destiny of the fool.”

The Master gave Adelphos a satchel of food and drink and handed him an apple for the road. “Thank you, Master, for opening my eyes. I will return to you once I have discovered the unknown,” said Adelphos.

“Don’t try to discover the unknown. Live it,” said the Master. Adelphos nodded. Excitement swelled in his chest. He ventured down the road and was gone.