“Because that is what I do.”

SPIDERS

There is a story about a kind, quiet man who went each morning to the river to refresh his spirit. One day while there, he saw a poisonous spider struggling in the water and he picked it up in his cupped hands a moved it to shore. As he placed it on the ground it stung him. Thankfully, the poison did not affect him lethally as it might have.

The next day the same thing happened. On the third day, the kind man was knee deep in the river and, sure enough, there was the spider, legs frantic in the water. As the man went to lift the spider yet again, the spider said, “Why do you keep lifting me? Can’t you see that I will sting you every time, because that is what I do?” And the kind man cupped his hands around the spider lifting it back to safety, replying, “Because that is what I do.”


The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life ...
By Mark Nepo