Grace of the Elephant
There was once a huge elephant crossing a wooden bridge high above a raging river. The bridge was old and rickety and it shook under the weight of the elephant. As the elephant was crossing the bridge he heard a voice, “Son, son” the voice said. The elephant looked around him, but he was all alone. “Son, son” the voice continued. When the elephant reached the other side of the river, he saw a small ant crawl onto his nose. “Son” the ant cried. “We almost collapsed that bridge, didn’t we? Our weight was so great, so immense that the bridge almost collapsed beneath us, didn’t it son?”
Of course the elephant knew that the ant’s weight had been completely irrelevant to whether the bridge collapsed. And of course he knew the tiny ant was not his mother. However what good would it have done to engage in battle of egos with the ant? Instead the wise, calm elephant simply said, “You are right, Mother, our weight almost broke the bridge.”
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