out of the can, gets the lid on the nose.”
In one type of proverb, common sense reaches its perfect expression. At first sight, proverbs of this sort may appear
Black cows also give white milk.
— ENGLISH
It don’t make much difference where the rain come from, just so it hits the ground in the right place.
— AFRICAN AMERICAN
Dirty water also will wash dirt.
— EWE
homespun — like many great things. In fact, “homespun” is a good word to describe them if we give to “home” its deepest meaning. Common sense is the thinking and feeling and willing that we share with the whole Earth Household. There is our true home, and there the proverbs of this kind have been “spun.” They do not philosophize or moralize; they simply hold up one image, as if to say “Look!” And the more we look, the more we see. “Under trees it rains twice” (Swiss). “A tiny needle goes through coarse cloth” (Sudan). “Dead twig shows itself when the buds come out” (African American). “Drop by drop carves the stone” (ancient Rome).These images are spun by the great Mother-of-All on the same spinning wheel on which the threads of the world itself are being spun. This is why these proverbs shine so brightly and yield ever new insights. We find images of this kind throughout the parables of Jesus.
Slowly, slowly will catch the monkey.
— JABO
Drop by drop fills the pot.
— DUALA
The hindermost ox also reaches the kraal.
— DUTCH
The one who runs and the one who limps meet again at the ferry.
— EGYPTIAN
The Common Sense Sayings of Jesus
The original message of Jesus still sparkles with freshness, and nowhere more brilliantly than in his parables. Like grains of gold in sand, these parables were deposited in the earliest layers of Christian tradition. Better than most other gospel passages, they preserve the live words of the Teacher. That Jesus taught in parables is one of the few historical facts about him that we know with certainty. Mark, the earliest gospel writer, even claims, “Without a parable he did not speak to them” (4:34).Though Mark may be overstating his case, the fact remains that we can find the essence of Jesus’ message in his parables.This is true in a double sense— with regard to content and with regard to form. Parables contain the gist of what Jesus taught and his choice of the parable form is in itself an essential aspect of his message.
Mountains don’t need mountains, but humans need humans.
— BASQUE
Frost destroys only the solitary blades of grass.
— CHINESE
The third strand makes the cable.
— DUTCH
A single stick smokes but doesn’t burn.
— GALLA
Sticks in a bundle cannot be broken.
— BONDEI
Many parables of Jesus resemble those proverbs in which a vivid image sparks a common-sense insight. Sometimes expanding the image into a brief narrative, Jesus pushes the inner mechanism of that type of proverb just a little further. Typically, his parables have three steps. Step one confronts us with a question: “Who of you…?” (Who of you doesn’t know that figs don’t grow on thistles? That blind guides are not particularly reliable? That a tiny seed grows into a tall tree?) Step two is our reply. Without hesitation we answer: “Well, everybody knows this. Common sense tells us so!” But then comes step three — another question, and often a merely implicit one: “Ah, if you know it so well, why don’t you act accordingly?” Laughter is the proper response. The joke is on us. We can all laugh together at the fact that we have all the common sense we need yet when it comes to the most important matters, we live like nitwits. Parable after parable is a variation on this joke.
A closer look will show us, however, that few of the parables in the gospels still work as jokes. The reason is obvious. How often can you tell the same joke to the same audience?
After a few times even the most patient ones will boo. And yet, the images Jesus used remain precious to his followers. So tradition retains and repeats the images, but turns the jokes into moralizing stories. The so-called Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37) is a good example of this tendency.
The context in Luke’s gospel is a discussion about loving one’s neighbor. “But who is my neighbor?” someone asks. Jesus picks up the implication, “God forbid that I should be kind to someone who isn’t — in the full technical sense — my neighbor!” He seems to chuckle as he answers by telling a story: “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho…. ” Now remember: this man is you. The first person mentioned is often the one with whom you must identify for a joke to work. So you travel down that road, notorious for its robbers, and sure enough, one of them holds you up, beats you, strips you, and lets you lie there half dead. You are only half dead; this is important, because you must be just alive enough to see what happens next. This story is told from the perspective of the one who was mugged, and that is you.
So you lie there by the roadside and someone comes down the same road. “Oh, here comes my neighbor,” your heart cries out. “He must help me!” Notice that you suddenly know who is your neighbor, now that you are in trouble.You know it, but he doesn’t — or doesn’t want to know; he walks right by. But wait, you get another chance. Another traveler is coming by. “Surely this one will know that he is my neighbor and will help me!” You don’t know who it is, but common sense tells you that he is your neighbor. Unfortunately, he too walks by on the other side of the road. But don’t give up yet (there is always a third one in a joke of this kind). Each time you hope more fervently that the stranger will know he is your neighbor. Finally a third one comes by — a Samaritan. By now the story has maneuvered you into a position where you are more than glad to welcome absolutely anyone as a neighbor. Anyone without restriction? Yes, even a Samaritan! For a Jew to think of a Samaritan as neighbor was outrageous. But here common sense suddenly clashes with public opinion and wins.
Tongue in cheek, Jesus asks, “Now which of the three, do you think, was neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
Who gives to me teaches me to give.
— DUTCH
To give to the needy is not to give but to sow.
— BASQUE
A gift goes out on a donkey and comes back on a camel.
— EGYPTIAN
