Tolerating Others

There is a story of a holy man from the Middle East who was in the habit of not eating breakfast each morning until a hungry person came by to share it with him. He felt that he should share his food with those in need. One day, an elderly man came by. The holy man saw him and invited him to share his breakfast with him.

The elderly man thanked him profusely. Then he sat down at the table to join him. As they began to say a blessing over the food, the elderly man said aloud a prayer to the pagan gods. This horrified the holy man who only believed in one God. He felt that the elderly man was a nonbeliever in God and became very upset. He jumped up and ordered the old man to leave his table.

“If you believe in pagans, then I don’t want you in my house!” he said to the old man, who scurried off.

When the holy man returned to his table, he heard God speak to him. God said, “What rights have you to send that man away?”

The holy man said, “He did not believe in You.”

God replied, “Look here! I know he does not believe in Me. But I have been supplying the unbeliever with food every day for eighty years even though he doesn’t believe in Me. Couldn’t you tolerate him for one single meal?”

This anecdote conveys a powerful message. We sometimes become righteous about our own beliefs and our own goodness and look down upon others. Sometimes we do not understand or tolerate others with their faults. But if we think about this story, we realize that no matter how bad someone is, God provides him or her with everything needed to live and puts up with a wide range of people. There are people who lie, who cheat, who deceive others, and who slander others. There are people who hurt others and even kill others. There are people who steal and people who are selfish. So many people with numerous faults live upon this earth. There are people who believe in God and there are people who are atheists or agnostics. Yet, God provides life to each of them. God provides food and water to each of them. God provides air and sunlight to each of them. If God can provide for all kinds of people with all their faults, then surely each of us could do the same.

Even on the spiritual path, many feel righteous about ourselves. Some people criticize others who do not meditate as much as they do, who do not do as much service as they do, or who do not live by the ethical values as well as they do. Sometimes people become very outspoken about the faults of others. But have we ever analyzed our own selves? Is it our duty to become the reformers of others? We should instead be tolerant of others’ faults. God knows everyone’s faults. God sees everything we do and everything everyone else does. If God has to put up with the faults of others, then why can’t we do the same?

The message of this story is that we should be kind and loving to all. We should respect and tolerate people who have different beliefs and customs from those we have. We should tolerate even those whom we feel do not believe in God or who do not believe in God in the same way we believe. God has made a world with people following many different religions and yet provides for each of them. Let us take a lesson and make sure we exercise tolerance toward others as we walk the highways of this world.

If we can have tolerance for others, then we are acting like true children of the Lord. God is love, and when we show tolerance for others, we too are filled with love and earn God’s pleasure.