Jacob the Baker: Gentle Wisdom for a Complicated World (Jacob the Baker Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

impatient.
    “Jacob, do you sincerely think we are capable of treating everyone as if they were the Messiah?”
    “I don’t know,” said Jacob.
    The questioner seemed to enjoy the idea of this. “You don’t know?”
    “My friend,” said Jacob, meaning it with his voice, “the furthest a wise man can travel is tothe border of his ignorance. The furthest a wise man can see is to the beginning of his blindness.”
    The man threw up his arms, clearly disgusted with Jacob’s answers.
    “I was told you were a holy man, a prophet, a teacher, but, instead, you tell me that you don’t know, that you are ignorant, and that you are blind.”
    Jacob patiently nodded through the negative description.
    “Well,” the scoffer continued, “what should I see in you?”
    “A man,” said Jacob, speaking slowly, “and, in reflection, you might find I look a great deal like you.”

GIVING GIVES ME AN OPEN HAND
    A n older man, who was both wealthy, and suspicious, invited Jacob to dinner in order to test him.
    When the dinner was served, Jacob was given an empty plate and cup while his host’s plate overflowed and his cup had wine draining past its brim.
    Jacob said nothing but sat there and watched the man devour his sumptuous meal.
    When the man had finished, Jacob stood, said thank you for his dinner, and prepared to leave.
    Unable to resist Jacob’s silence, the host asked, “Weren’t you angry because I gave you nothing?”
    “No,” said Jacob, passing through the door. “You gave me what you had. If I expected more from you than I received, then I was filled with my expectation and not your offer.”

ONLY THE LIVING DIE
    A woman, whose father had passed away, came to see Jacob because there was a tradition to cover the mirrors during the time of mourning, and she struggled to understand the significance of this act.
    “Is it so I do not concern myself with vanity but think about my father?”
    “Yes,” said Jacob.
    “Is it so I do not see myself in this deep sadness?”
    “Yes,” said Jacob.
    “Is it so I do not confuse the image of life with life itself?”
    “Yes,” said Jacob.
    “And what else Jacob?”
    “Well,” said Jacob, “if it is death that gives life meaning, then, perhaps, this tradition is to remind us that, when we have not lost someone, we shouldn’t lose ourselves by refusing to pay attention to who we are, what we have been, what we are becoming.”

UNDERSTANDING IS LIVING IN A HOUSE WHERE EVERY ROOM HAS A POINT OF VIEW
    A man with a glow in his eye, a man who had turned his vision into a mission, came to see Jacob.
    “Jacob, I have come to invite you to take up ‘the cause’ with me!”
    “I am only a baker,” said Jacob.
    “Come on, Jacob,” said the man, waving his hand with contempt at the factory, “you are much more than a baker.”
    “Really?” asked Jacob. “How much more could I be?”
    “It is written,” said the man, “that we are to be a light unto the nations.”
    Jacob had seen this form of self-inflation many times and was clearly not comfortable with it.
    “To be a light unto the nations does not mean we are to put the spotlight on ourselves. It means we must all know we are living in the dark, and it is our mutual ignorance that reminds us we are brothers and sisters.”
    “I see the light,” asserted the man, hoping to invoke Jacob’s interest.
    But Jacob recognized the look in the man’s eye and replied simply, “… good,” leaving the other man to pick up his argument.
    “Good?” said the man. “I tell you I see the light, and all you tell me is ‘good’! You should prepare yourself to come with me.”
    “I can’t,” said Jacob.
    “Why?”
    “Because I do not follow a man.”
    The man was crestfallen. “I’m sorry you will not join me.”
    “But, I am with you,” said Jacob. “We are all a reflection of the One Light. We are all on a journey between destinations that do not exist. We are each other. To think otherwise is a case