Night and Day

Late one night, a Teacher sat around a blazing fire with a small number of adolescent disciples. Their conversation was broken by periods of silence as they gazed at the stars or stared into the glowing embers. Suddenly the Teacher posed a question: "How can we know when the night has ended and the day has begun?"

Eagerly a young man answered, "you know the night is over when you look off in the distance and can tell which animal is a dog and which is a sheep. Is that the right answer Teacher?"

"It is a good answer," the Teacher replied, "but isn't quite the answer I seek."

A second disciple ventured a guess. "You know the night is over when the light falls on the leaves and you can tell whether it is an olive tree or a fig tree," he said.

Once again the Teacher shook his head. "That was a fine answer; still, it is not the answer I seek," he said gently.

Immediately the disciples began to argue with one another. Finally, one of them begged the teacher, "answer your own question, sir, for we cannot think of another response."

The Teacher looked intently at the eager faces before he spoke. "When you look into the eyes of another human being and see a brother or a sister, you will know it is morning. If you cannot see a brother or a sister, you will know that no matter what time it is, for you it will always be night. And you will always be in the dark.