Ships - Refugee Ship | Iron Wall Sculpture, Rust Finish

A parable of people sitting together in a ship.
One of them took a drill and began to bore beneath his own seat.
His companions said to him, what are you doing?
He said to them, what concern is it of yours? Am I not boring under my own place?
They said to him, but the water is rising and will flood the ship over us all.

I sit with this parable for a while...
and works came out of me that carry the idea through art.
This is one of them.

There is more and more to learn from this parable,
and for me, I am not rushing to solve the situation.
And certainly not to point a finger at whoever seems to me the one boring beneath himself.

First, to agree to ask myself,
do I agree to accept that this is how things are? that this is the truth?

And through the question I turn inward, to myself, to Tom,
and I see that the ship and all the people in it, all of it is inside me.
All the voices in the story, including the one who starts to bore beneath himself, and also his companions who tell him and explain that the water will flood the ship over us all...

And when I accept that all these voices and shades live in me,
including that voice in me that starts to bore,
something releases. It eases.
The child wants to be accepted as he is...

And when I feel that I am accepted, that I am part of this whole and not apart, it lets me choose a new path. Or it offers a ladder to climb down from the tree I climbed up.
And that new way of thinking can bring a new act of good out of me, even the smallest of small acts, one that can truly add great good to the world.
And I am sure this brings relief and rescue not only to me but to everyone on the ship.

Source of the parable, Vayikra Rabbah 4