Pleasing God

Abba Ah Teng has been standing on one leg on top of the Banyan tree in the marketplace for the last ten years. He stood there under the hot sun in summer and the bitter cold in winter. He has to brace himself against the strong monsoon winds that lash the tree. At night he has to sleep while keeping his balance.

“Why does he do that, torturing himself so?” asked the people in the marketplace. “Abba believes that God will be pleased and glorified by his sufferings,” his disciples explained. 

“What a holy man,” the people will think, “and God will so pleased!”

God smiled and rolled his eyes.

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