The Snake and The Saw

A parable.

A friend of mine just shared a parable with me. It went something like this:

Once a snake crawled over a sharp saw and got cut. This hurt. The snake got angry because of the pain. So the snake wrapped itself around the saw and determined to use its strong, thick body to squeeze the saw to death in retaliation.

Yet with each squeeze, the snake hurt more. Nonetheless, it continued. This saw couldn’t get away with causing such pain.

Never mind where the snake was going. Never mind the future the snake wanted. Never mind the rest of what the snake wanted from its life.

This saw hurt it.

So he first had to do something about it.

Of course, eventually, in its refusal to let go of the saw that was cutting and hurting it, the snake died.

The lesson: Control your anger. Forgive those that hurt you. Refuse to allow people or things such power over you.

Let go.