The Blind Men and the Elephant

The Blind Men and the Elephant

It was six men of Idostan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the elephant

(Though all of them were blind)

That each by observaton

Might satisfy his mind.

The first apporached the elephant,

And, happening to fall

Against the broad and sturdy side,

At once began to bowl,

"God bless me! but the elephant

Is very like a wall!"

The second, feelin 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 apporached 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 his eager hand,

And felt about the knee.

"What most this wondrous beast is like

Os mightly plain," quoth he;

"'Tis clear enough the elephant

Is very like a tree."

The fifith, 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.

So, oft in theologic wars

The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance

Of what each other mean,

And prate about the elephant

Not one of them has seen!

I love this poem! Since I have come here to the field it has become more real to me. There is a definite place for facts and knowledge in Christianity. We can know about God from the things the Bible clearly says about Him. But, one thing that Westerners tend to forget is that God is great. He is even grander than all the Bible says about Him, and can never be fully understood. Our scientific brains strain to put the Bible and our Theology into little boxes and we strive to make everything fit into a logical order and pattern. But we forget that in the end it is FAITH! So things just are. I have seen friends driff into Calvinism and Armenism over the years. Each person had the same problem! They sought so hard to fully understand the elephant, that they forgot that they where blind! As the meet different things in their own lifes they began to mke conclusions and start to follow these system. They would argue with any person to prove that this is how things are, but they do not realize they are just holding a tail or an ear.

One of the greatest gifts of the mission field is that a missionary gets to rediscover the gift of Wonder! Here things are less about theories and science, and more about acceptance. In the African mind, some thing just cannot be understood. They just are! Somethings we can never understand. So instead of trying to think I can understand every last detail, I will just enjoy Christianity for what it is!