In this recently posted tale, our friend Mullah Nasruddin has a conversation with the Creator about what the Mullah perceives as a flaw in God’s creation: why should an enormous tree bear small nuts and a humble vine produce large pumpkins?  The Divine responds succinctly by showing what the consequences would have been for the Mullah if the tree were full of heavy gourds – probably a broken neck.

We could offer congratulations to the Mullah for having received such a prompt answer, or perhaps for perceiving the reply so readily.  Most of us carry complaints about one thing or another for a long time, maybe all our life, believing that they are unnoticed and unanswered.  Needless to say, our grievances seldom improve the world, but they do affect our own condition.  Look carefully at the faces that surround you and you will see that many are carrying ‘stones in their shoes,’ so to speak: chronic dissatisfactions that leave deep marks on the spirit.

What could be the remedy?  It is easy to say: “Stop complaining!” but such advice doesn’t accomplish much.  If we would really like to be free of some of our grumbles, a good place to start is to develop a better sense of justice.  The Mullah made a judgement about God’s handiwork based on his own limited perceptions.  With a greater sense of justice, he might have thought, “This looks like a flaw to me but perhaps there is something here I do not understand.  What is it that I do not see?”  In other words, perhaps the ‘flaw’, or the injustice, is a consequence of my own perceptions.

It has been said so often that a Sufi has two points of view, his own and that of the other person.  We are very quick to judge others, and we overlook the fact that from the point of view of the other life is difficult, every bit as difficult as our own.  Therefore, with a greater sense of justice, we should also have an awakening sense of compassion. Most people are really doing the best they can, and if they cannot do better, they deserve all the more sympathy.