I was blind, but now I see. . . 
From ministry delivered in Meeting for Worship on 10/23/2005:
We all know the Indian fable of the blind men and the elephant, where a group of blind men are led to an elephant and each grabs one part of the animal – leg, trunk, tail, body, ear, tusk – and then describes the elephant in terms of the part he is holding – an elephant is like a tree trunk, or like a snake, or rope, wall, banana leaf, spear. Then they argue with each other about it, each insisting on his own perception as the only true description of an elephant.
We smile at the silliness of the argument and usually describe the moral of the story as being about the importance of diverse points of view, no one has all the answers, it’s important to be humble and open to new ideas, etc.
But behind those obvious, superficial lessons, there are two more profound lessons found in the two premises of the story.
First, the only reason that the men disagreed and argued with each other was that they were blind. If they could see they would have each realized in an instant that the elephant had many aspects and characteristics at the same time. The lesson, then, if that if you want to know what an elephant is like, wake up, open your eyes, and see for
yourself.
The second and perhaps more important lesson is that there is indeed an elephant! The story only makes sense if the men are feeling & describing something that actually exists (i.e., they aren’t making it up), and that it is the same thing.
http://www.aish.com/spirituality/philosophy/Seeing_the_Elephant.asp
Four blind men encounter an elephant. One grabs the leg and concludes it is a tree trunk. One holds the tail thinking it is a whip. Another touches the elephant's trunk and decides it's a hose and the fourth man pats the side concluding it's a wall.
The wise man tells them, "All of you are right."
The first time I heard this parable, I thought it was illustrating that truth is relative. Here are four different people, each one coming away with very different conclusions.
Years later I realized the story conveys exactly the opposite: truth is objective. After all, is there an elephant? Of course an elephant is there! That is the objective reality, independent of anyone's viewpoint.
Truth is complex, multi-faceted, and at times very difficult to fully grasp. But it's not relative. There is truth out there; we just need to figure out what piece of the puzzle we're holding onto.
Please circulate it to others in the group if you think they would appreciate it. I've got a Word file version if you would like it.
Best wishes
David
