Deceptive looks

With undisguised disgust people looked at him. He was grimy all over. They didn’t get closer lest they will smell the worst they have ever smelt.

“After all, this is a holy place. Why did he have to come here this early and spoil our morning?”

“Filthy fellow!”

“We must get rid of him, before the new pastor comes. Otherwise he will think bad of us.”

“Don’t know if it is the new pastor’s new servant.”
“No, he won’t hire such filthy men. I’m dead sure of that.”
“You can never know how the pastor thinks.”

Did the man hear all these remarks? No one cared whether he heard or not. They had a more serious concern. The village church was getting a new pastor. And the whole village was getting ready to welcome him.

The man silently went on cleaning the yard. He was in long rags, which was almost in shreds. His shoes looked at least 30 years old. But then he didn’t care much about his own looks. He went on with his work, without noticing loud hints thrown at him.

The service would commence in a few hours time. The new pastor hasn’t turned up yet, much to the villagers’ impatience. They had nothing else to do either. As time was up, they made their way inside.

The new pastor, on the other hand, was waiting till the church was full. He silently watched how eagerly the audience looks forward to seeing him. At first the audience did not believe what they saw.

This cannot be, some thought. This must be a mistake, some opined. But that was reality. It was that man: the one, who was cleaning the yard. Still in filthy rags the new pastor reached the lectern. He had a good look at the audience before he initiated his talk.

“I remember something happened to one of my friends. He is a Buddhist monk, very much popular in his community. He was the abbot of his monastery.”

And the story goes on:

'A rich lady came all the way from the capital to meet this abbot on an urgent matter. The lady did not know the abbot personally. But she wanted to see him personally for counselling. At the monastery, she saw someone mixing cement and sand.

“Is your abbot in?” she asked.
“Yes,” came the reply.
“I need to see him.”
“Okay madam.”

'Only a little later the lady saw the ‘someone’ was in robes. But his robes were unclean with cement and sand mixed together. So she didn’t like to show much respect. The monk went inside to inform his abbot.

'In a little while, the abbot came to see the lady. She bowed in respect and had a little talk. Once they were done, she added: “By the way sir, get your monks to put on clean robes. There was one monk, who looked horrible.” The abbot also nodded and said he will do it for sure.

The pastor finished the story. Now it was his turn to pose a question.
“And my dear friends, do you know how the story ends?”
The audience was silent.

“That unclean monk, you never thought, was the abbot himself. He knew the woman didn’t make him out. He went in, had a quick wash, and came back in better robes. What does this mean? It means you fall for the look.

“You respect the attire more than the person’s worth. And you think it’s right.”

The pastor went silent again. The audience was silent too, as usual. The pastor smiled to himself. He knew the message was enough.

“I was hungry, and you gave me no food. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. This is all I’ve got to tell you. Thank you for listening to my talk.”

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