The Mason

"The mason was kind and worked at the quarry from night until dawn. He often had no bread, but he had a dream — to build a vast city one day. For all the villagers. Do you know what happened to him?"
"No."
"It's a long story."
"I'm listening."
"One day he met a fisherman. He was coming with a large catch, strutting and humming a tune. He was in good spirits — his day had been successful. He was on his way home to feed his family. The mason only watched him with a kindly look.
That fisherman was from another village. When he met him again and the man carried a big catch on his back, the mason's heart clenched with pain for his own starving family.

The first time the mason only greeted him, wishing the fisherman a good journey. The second time he asked who the fisherman was and where he was headed. The third time, when he met the fisherman, he asked how his family was, whether they were all alive and well. The fisherman answered willingly. After all, he was happy to be carrying such a catch.

And then the fisherman suddenly shivered; seeing the mason's bloodied hands, he asked him,
"Why do you work from dusk till dawn? Why don't you go to your family, to your wife and children?"
The mason thought, scratched the back of his head, and replied,
"My family? What can I do for them by being there with them? They will accept me, of course. But how will I face my neighbors, whose houses are still unbuilt?"
And then the fisherman asked,
"So your family lives in a house, in plenty?"
The mason shook his head and said,
"No, I build the same for everyone."
And then the fisherman said,
"Do you see how much fish I have?"
"Yes, a lot."
"Do you see, all this fish swims in one vast river, and yet I am allowed to catch only so much. Why is that?"
"I don't know," the mason pondered.
"Perhaps there is not enough strength."
"True. If I fished all day and night and never went home, what good would it do that all this fish was here while my family there is starving?"
"What do you mean?" the mason asked.
"Love working for the good of others, but don't forget the small portion you can give to each."
The mason fell silent, watching the fisherman walk away.
And he understood that he had been wrong to desire, alone, to build an entire city.
He laid out all the stones, but there was no one to gather them and build. So he returned to his village and told them what he planned to build the city.
And at first they raised a great temple.
"A temple?"
"Yes. In that temple all the people of the village took shelter in bad weather, like a refuge, like something made by human hands, created by the combined effort of all who live on that land. Each person who contributes their share to the common cause is the one who is, in a sense, everything.
And unity in the Absolute is not the unity of a single person, but the shared effort of each of you.

This story teaches us to share not only our own victories, but also our petitions, those ideas that will help awaken the world to the better. Awaken the world to knowledge. For where you meet your neighbor as brother or sister, there you will see incredible power."