Three Monks on an Island

I ran across this parable this week and it has left me pondering what it means to faith communities in learning to walk alongside people with special needs.

Three Monks on an Island

By Leo Tolstoy

"Three Russian monks lived on a faraway island. Nobody ever went there, but one day their bishop decided to make a pastoral visit. When he arrived, he discovered that the monks didn't even know the Lord's Prayer. So he spent all his time and energy teaching them the "Our Father" and then left, satisfied with his pastoral work. But when his ship had left the island and was back in the open sea, he suddenly noticed the three hermits walking on the water-in fact, they were running after the ship! When they reached it, they cried, "Dear Father, we have forgotten the prayer you taught us." The bishop overwhelmed by what he was seeing and hearing, said, "But, dear brothers, how then do you pray?" They answered, "Well, we just say, 'Dear God, there are three of us and there are three of you, have mercy on us!'" The bishop, awestruck by their sanctity and simplicity, said, "Go back to your land and be at peace."

Many individuals with significant special needs cannot speak or if they do their communication skills may be lacking in some way. Some cannot memorize the prayers that we all know by heart. Prayers that may make us feel closer to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Are those prayers necessary to have a deep relationship with the Trinity?

This parable displays what we, parents of children with special needs, already know.

Faith is what the heart knows and understands.

Our duty is too teach our children just how much God loves them. They don't necessarily need words to walk in faith and complete God's will for them on earth...

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