EXCERPT FROM “THE DOUBTING SNAKE”
The next morning at breakfast Kano took a small portion of his meal and threw it away. He did this at every meal. I always assumed there was dirt on that portion. But his persistence in this behavior finally caught my curiosity.
“Kano, why do you do that?”
“So you have noticed me sacrificing my food. The food is what builds our bodies. One day we will have to sacrifice our bodies. So it is good to sacrifice a piece of each meal. This way, we are always ready to sacrifice things.
“Why think in such negative ways – death and sacrifice?”
“I am a happy man, am I not?” I had to agree that if Kano was nothing else, he was happy.
“And look what I have sacrificed. Do you know what I have sacrificed? I have sacrificed my understanding.”
“What do you mean you’ve sacrificed your understanding? Did you, yourself do that?”
“Yes. I sacrificed my understanding just as last night you gave up trying to figure out how to get home. I once understood things, like you. And yet, I couldn’t find my way home. Then I gave up my understanding and now come home with ease. And I am happy.
“I have a place to sleep, food to eat and friends with whom to pass my time. When the mood strikes me, I sing and at times, I cry. I don’t know enough to do otherwise and I am happy.
“I am happy whether I laugh or cry, for even in sadness there is joy. I am happy to be a man, to be a living creature and when I call out to the forest, she gives me what I need.
“She sends me a butterfly to hold, but when it decides to leave, I let it go. She gives me food, but when I am finished with it, I let it go in the outhouse.
“When I see her beautiful sunset, I let it go and night arrives. When I have enjoyed the dry season for half the year, I let it go so the rains may come and the plants will grow.
“And when this life comes to a close I will look back at all the wonderful things that have happened to me. I will know that my joy in life would not have been possible without knowing how to let go of just those very things which brought me joy. And so it will be with joy that I die.”
THE DOUBTING SNAKE by Bob Klein is now available on our “Online Store”. Click onto the link in the right hand area of this page. You will then find the novel on the left side set of links on our online store home page (www.movementsofmagic.com).
