THE MONKEY AND THE GOLDEN RULE
The Golden Rule is a universally accepted principle for the way humans ought to treat one another. In the Bible, it is stated as
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
It is a universal principle, and speaks to the heart of human relationships so effectively that virtually all religions have a similar version of it.
HOWEVER, sometimes principles can be MISINTERPRETED or TWISTED.
For instance… here is a popular story from Tanzania, Africa that demonstrates how the Golden Rule could be misinterpreted…
“ There once lived a monkey and a fish. The monkey followed the golden rule, always trying to treat others as he wanted to be treated. But he sometimes applied the golden rule foolishly. Now one day a big flood came. As the threatening waters rose, the foolish monkey climbed a tree to safety. Then he looked down and saw a fish struggling in the water. He thought, “I wanted to be lifted from the water.” So he reached down and grabbed the fish from the water, lifting him to safety on a high branch. Of course that didn’t work. The fish died.”
Hopefully if we saw a fish in the water we would think to ask ourselves “If I were that fish, I would not want to be lifted out of the water.”
THE POINT IS, it’s about treating others according to their needs…not our own!
It’s not “Do unto others as you want done to you,” but rather “Do unto others what you would want done if you were in their position!”
REFLECTION QUESTION:
Can you think of an occasion where you tried to treat someone in the spirit of the Golden Rule?
Or can you think of a time when someone treated you in the fashion of this principle?