The Monkey

There once was an island of people who walked around with monkeys on their backs. They would go about their day bent over from the weight of the monkey and the burden they would carry. They would look at one another and judge each other by the size of their monkey. The people with smaller monkeys would feel sorry for the ones with bigger monkeys. The people with bigger monkeys would feel sorry for themselves and walk around moaning, “Look how big my monkey is, look how big my monkey is, oh, the load I carry.”

One day a stranger came to the island to visit. He told the island people that he could remove their monkeys if they would just believe that he could. Many refused to believe that he could. They said, “I’ve lived with this monkey on my back my whole life. Now you come and say you can remove it? I don’t believe you!” Sadly, they refused to believe and they walked away. Many stayed and did believe that he could remove the monkey. They asked, “how can you remove this monkey?” The stranger said, “I will simply stretch my arms out and allow the monkey to walk over to me. I will take your monkey from your back and allow it to rest on mine.” “What?,” the people said. “We could never allow you to do this! The weight from all our monkeys would kill you!” The stranger told them that he loved them and it was his desire to do this for them. He could save them from all of the burdens that this monkey has placed upon them.

The stranger stretched out his arms and the island people believed, and one by one the monkey’s jump from them to him. Pretty soon the weight of the monkeys became unbearable and the stranger began to stumble and fall from the pain of the monkeys. He fell to the ground and the monkey’s continued to jump from their back to his until the people could no longer see him. They cried and wept because the stranger had sacrificed his life to save them from the beast that had once been on their back.

Three days later some of the people returned to the spot where the stranger had laid down his life for the island people. Once there they saw the stranger standing by a tree. “We thought you were dead.” They said. “I was, but now I am alive again,” said the stranger. “I must leave and go to my father, but tell everyone that I’m alive and well and that I love them and never will they have to worry about the monkeys again.” He also said, “Tell the others, the ones who refused to believe, that if they will believe in me and ask to be free of their monkey I will take their monkey also.”

Time passed and the island people lived well. Those who believed and were monkey free lived a life full of joy and promise. Those who did not continued to bare the burden of their monkey. There were some who believed and went in search of their monkey again. The just refused to give up their monkey. Some of the believers would say, “don’t you believe?” “Yes, with all my heart,” they would cry. “Then why do you continue to carry your monkey? The stranger has freed you from that burden.”

Sadly, they would say, “I must continue to carry this burden. I’ve accepted it, I’m living with it, I’ll get along, please don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” There were some that would tell them the stranger removed their monkey once and for all and there was no need to carry the monkey any longer. They were free, rejoice! “No, I can’t, this monkey is just too big, I must carry it,” they would say. Sadly it seems, there were those who actually enjoyed the burden of carrying a monkey. What had been a burden had now became a pet. They believed he took it from them, but they refused to let it go. It was actually an invisible monkey. Something they envisioned there. Once something that is bad, heavy and hurtful is gone, why would you want it back, or even the memory of it. Why continue remembering what needs to be forgotten. Why bare an invisible burden? Be free of the monkey!