The Compassionate Philanthropist

The Parable

If you had one minute to run knowing that each step won you a 100 dollars, would you care that you got the finish line wheezing and coughing?

There once lived a philanthropist, a compassionate, intelligent, creative one.

One day he decided that he would invite all those wanted to run in a race that he oversaw. The goal of the race was to run as far as possible in one minute, and the man announced that he would give every runner 100 dollars for each step that he took.

Of course, scores of people lined up to join this foolishly easy race - who wouldn't join for a way to make such quick, easy cash? The line-up was a miscellaneous hodge-podge of people; fit ones, fat ones, slow ones, fast ones, all eager to run 'till their lungs collapsed for one full minute. Certainly this was not a time for moderation - they were willing to endure the discomfort knowing that they fully potentialized this one, short minute.

If you ask how this man knew how much to pay each runner, he had invented a patent for a sensor/counter that fit inside the sole of the shoe. As the runner took a step, the sensor sent a message to the counter, which took a tally of the runner's steps.

And so the gun was fired and they were off. But, as you might have predicted, there were some clever souls who sought to get lots of money for no effort, and they crouched down and banged their shoes on the ground. Alas, the man was smart and he preempted such tomfoolery. His team of engineers designed the sensor/counter such that a particular amount of pressure per square inch had to be placed on the sensor for it to register a step. That amount of pressure perfectly corresponded to the typical amount of pressure placed on the sole of the human foot when a person is running.

In other words, the participants had to be actually running to get the money.

The Explanation

The philanthropist, a kind, intelligent, creative one is God. The race is life. The minute is your lifespan. The steps reflect your personal growth. The 100 dollars are the reward you receive for growing. The sensor/counter is God's Omnipotence. The clever souls are those who try to receive reward while avoiding true growth. Only true growth yields results.

What would you do?

Comment below.