Christ I want to recognize and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship with his suffering. His death is to shape me. Philippians 3
Alpstein, Appenzellerland, Switzerland Photo: Sr. Maria Dörig
A young Jew came to a rabbi and said: “I would like to be your student.” The rabbi answered: “Well, you can, but I have a condition. I need you to answer a question. Do you love God?” The student became sad and thoughtful. Then he said: “Actually love, I can’t say that…”
The rabbi said kindly: “Well, if you don’t love God, do you yearn to love him?” The pupil thought for a while and explained afterwards: “Sometimes I feel the yearning to love him quite clear. But mostly I have to do so much that this longing goes down in everyday life.”
The rabbi hesitated, and then he said: “If you do not feel the desire to love God so clearly, do you have the yearning to have this yearning to love God?”
Then the pupil’s face brightened up, and he said: “That’s exactly what I do. I yearn to have this yearning to love God.”
The rabbi replies: “That’s enough. You’re on your way!”
Source unknown
