As many in this part of the world can attest we live in a wealthy and popular summer destination place.  I am made very aware of this because in my home we have a guest bedroom. This makes our home a natural landing for friends and family.  Last week alone we had seven people stay over for at least one night. 

When I start wondering where all these people are coming from and when Hannah, my wonderful wife, and I will have our home back to ourselves I am reminded of a Jewish fable that impressed me many years ago.

As I remember it, the story opens with a couple visiting their Rabbi for advice; their two children are messy and uncooperative and their small two room cottage feels too small.  The Rabbi advises them to invite their parents to live with them and come back in a week. 

A week later they return expressing their stress around the added number of people in their small space, the Rabbi simply invites them to bring their pet dog in.  Over the ensuing weeks they are told to bring in all their animals; the goats, the chickens, the rabbits and any other animals.  One day they arrive at the Rabbis home wondering how they could squeeze even a mouse into their over crowded home.  To their great relief the Rabbi asks them to send all animals and people to their respective domiciles and return in a week.

The following week the Rabbi asks the couple how they are managing in their little cottage.  The husband and wife, in deep relief, have come to appreciate how big their space actually is.  They are full of gratitude for the wisdom of their Rabbi and the abundance of order and organization in their home, with only their two young children to share it.

When I remember this fable I am filled with gratitude.  I recognize how much I enjoy the luxury of being able to share by choice. 

What makes this story more poignant to me is another story recently shared by a friend of mine. He spent a few months working in the north of China a few years ago, While there he saw a farm commune hut. In the hut across one whole wall was a bed, it was large, it could sleep eight couples.  On the other side of the room there was another bed (no curtain separating them) that could sleep another couple.  Each couple had one night a week to sleep ‘alone’ together and then they rotated out to share the large bed.  For them things we take for granted were not an option; hygiene, solitude, independence and many other basics of our society.

To fully grasp the meaning of these stories is profound.  It instills a sense of tolerance; and even more a deep humbleness. 

I am truly grateful for this place I live in, the relative paradise I have come to accept as my right - and the common standard for the world.