Parable of the Cart

Once there was a group of people who were traveling down the road together on a very long journey. They had with them a cart which they used to aid them on their journey. There were no beasts of burden so the people themselves had to pull the cart. They put into the cart those things which were too heavy for any one man to bear by himself and were used for the good of all, while personal effects were carried by the individuals who owned them. The pace at which the group traveled down the road was quick for each man in the group pulled the cart rendering the burden light. The families of each man walked beside the cart. When a man tired he would walk with his family taking a respite from the burden of the cart. Very few people ever rode in the cart, and they were those who were afflicted or otherwise incapable of even walking, as it had been decided by the group that instead of halting the journey each time one person was incapable of walking and needed rest that he or she should ride instead for a short time and then resume walking beside or pulling the cart again.

Over time a few of the laziest people decided that they would ride in the cart most of the time and rarely, if ever, pull the cart any more. Soon after that a man who was always very opinionated and thought himself quite intelligent said to the people, "Because I am smart and understand such things I will serve the cart by directing it. I will ride atop it and say to those who pull to go faster or slower, go to the right or to the left. Also I will decide who can ride in the cart and for how long." Soon after that The Driver said to the people, "I require the aid of a few to help me with my duties" and so chose his friends to ride with him. Those who pulled noticed the cart getting a little heaver and so it moved a little more slowly.

Since the cart had grown a little heavier some of the weaker men said to The Driver "The cart is heavy and we only have so much strength. Therefore, we need more rest and more time in the cart." The Driver replied "Let it be so. Let the strongest among us bear more of the burden so that the weaker may bear less." And so the weaker men put down the burden of the cart and many decided to ride. The cart now moved even more slowly and the riders began to grumble to The Driver saying "We are not making good progress on our journey. Look at the strong men who pull the cart. Can they not give greater effort?" So The Driver said to the few, the strong men who were still pulling the cart, "What is the meaning of this? Why do you work so slowly? It is not right that you who are blessed with strength should not give greater effort in pulling our cart." Finally, one of the strong men replied, "I am strong because I pull with all my effort. If other weaker men should get down out of the cart and and begin again to pull the cart we will all move much faster. It is in giving effort by which they will become strong." "Nonsense," aspersed The Driver. "You are wicked and selfish for saying this about your compatriots. Henceforth, the strong men shall be bound and yoked to the cart for it their responsibility to the community to bear their fair share of the burden." The strong men groaned and most of the weak men cheered. But those who were neither weak nor strong, who sometimes pulled and sometimes walked and sometimes rode, who knew that what the strong man had said to be the truth, and had hoped themselves to become strong, looked up at The Driver and they were afraid.