A PARABLE OF THE SCHISM

By the Rev. Rob Donehue

There once was a noble sailing ship that made its way peacefully across the sea. Though not as large as some of the other ships of the ocean, it was still considered a stately and gallant vessel. The ship had many sails, and each of the sails was held in place by many sturdy ropes. And when the wind filled its sails, the ship made its way through the waves with patient determination to reach its destination.

One day, a mighty storm descended, and the wind began to howl. Though battered by the maelstrom, the ship remained on course. But soon, the sails began to strain. A powerful gust came and filled one of the sails, and it was feared that the sail would be torn apart.

Then one of the ropes said, "The wind is too fierce! Our sail is doomed!" So the rope detached itself from its sail. Other ropes cried out in the same way and detached themselves from their sail. When the ropes found that they were being blown about by the wind, they said to the other sails, "See! We've left the sail that must soon be torn to pieces. But now here we are with no sail for us to cling to. Let us cling to you, and maybe together we can weather this storm!" So the other sails took them in. But the ropes could not help the other sails to catch the wind, and the ship began to founder.

The ropes looked back at the sail they had abandoned and said, "Look how the sail's edges are flailing even more violently now in this storm! It cannot last much longer! Surely we were right to have left it to its fate." All the while, the ship continued to pitch back and forth.

The crew cried out, "O ropes, return to your sail! See, it is not torn asunder, but without you, all it can do is flap about. Return to your sail! Help it capture the wind again, and the ship may yet sail its way through this storm!"

But the ropes answered back, "By no means! For you see that we now belong to these other sails. Only a few more ropes need join us in letting go, and surely that sail will be blown away!"

But the crew pleaded all the more, "You are not helping the other sails! You are only making them more rigid! And your strain on them is causing you to fray! Return now to your sail, for surely if you do not return to your sail, the whole ship may be lost."

Two possible endings:

1) The ropes replied, "We will not return! For we are in no danger from the storm! That flapping sail is the source of our peril. And once it is gone, we trust the storm will end. Yet even so, what care we if the ship is lost! For even if the ship is lost, we will take our new sails and set out wherever the wind will take us!"

And the ropes clung ever tighter to the sails that were not their own. Soon came another blast of wind which battered the ship more fiercely than the first. And the ropes snapped, the sails ripped, the masts buckled, and the rudder splintered. And the once noble ship was left to drift aimlessly upon the ocean.

OR

2) And the ropes returned to steady the sail. Though stretched and strained, the sail was secured. And catching the fullness of the wind again, the sail helped to carry the ship out of the storm.

_________________________________________________

The Rev. Mr. Rob Donehue is priest of St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Conway SC.