The Bridge Parable

The Bridge Parable

Four men went to cross a sea between two cities.
The first man sees a bridge that his ancestors crossed. It is an ancient bridge made of wood and stone. He knows it is strong and sturdy, able to withstand the ages.
The second man sees a different bridge. It is the bridge that his parents crossed. It is made of precious metals and jewels. He knows the craftsmanship is without equal.
The third man sees yet another bridge. It is a new bridge made with the most current science and technology. He knows the bridge is safest to ever be created.
All three men pause on their bridge and mock one another. Each finding faults with the others and none with their own.
The forth man watches all this fighting and bickering and decides to go to the edge of the sea. Yet he finds that the waters have receded and a dry path awaits.

Draw your own conclusions.

OK....I get it. God showed him the way/provided him with a path ala Moses.

Don't see what the point is though

If that is what you got from it, cool. Not what I did though....

reply to post by westlynx


We tend to compete, judging one another for being different. But if we just focused on living our own lives instead of looking for flaws we perceive in others, maybe we'd actually get something done.

That's what I got from your parable. Thank you for sharing. There's a lot more to it than what I just explained, but I'll let the rest of you figure it out for yourselves.

One more. Taking pride in another man's accomplishments is the same as getting full by watching someone else eat. These men were arguing over someone else's food. The fourth man showed no pride, only purpose, and so he took the simple way, the straight way. The truthful way. While everyone else is busy debating their spiritual paths, he kept going.

I'll bet that's what you saw in the parable, OP.

reply to post by westlynx


How about telling us what you got from it then?

There are many readings, people are so stuck in the past they don't see opportunities presented to them and are destined to repeat the mistakes of their forebears etc.

Would like your reading though.

How about this. What do the bridges represent? What does the water represent? Who is the forth man?

reply to post by westlynx

How about this. What do the bridges represent?

The spiritual paths.

What does the water represent?

Spirit.

Who is the forth man?

A Christian.

What I got form it was this. All the bridges (religions) lead to the same place. They are traveled for various reasons( ancestors, parents coat-tails, or just science), but in the end they still take you to the other city. But the purpose of the bridges (water crossing) is no longer needed, and the men are so distracted by what they believe is the right path, they fail to see. The forth man is feed up with all the fighting and discovers that the bridges are unnecessary anymore, and just walks across. There is more to it than that, but I enjoy others thoughts as well.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


This why I love parables
Thank you for your interpretation.

There is no wrong interpretation of this, because your understanding will be different than everyone else's because no two people share the same life journey. So I welcome any and all to share.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by westlynx

 

How about this. What do the bridges represent?

The spiritual paths.

What does the water represent?

Spirit.

Who is the forth man?

A Christian.

I could argue with you saying that the Christian was the 1st man because of how the religion is strong and well founded but then I would end up being the 3rd man...

I say the 4th man is one who realizes to get to the other side might be a path that not everyone takes and yet still gets you to the same place. A path that has no solid foundation but a history older than all 3, one revealed by insight into seeing what everyone else is doing and not doing it, and it gets you there without arguing about it...

Parables absolutely all have a "correct" interpretation.

That's what they're for.

reply to post by graphuto


From wiki:
A parable is [1] a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or (sometimes) a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters. It is a type of analogy.[2]

Right, an analogy.

To describe a specific thing.

Science and faith the size of a musterdseed.

reply to post by westlynx


Your parable is wrong.

Originally posted by westlynx
The Bridge Parable

Four men went to cross a sea between two cities.
The first man sees a bridge that his ancestors crossed. It is an ancient bridge made of wood and stone. He knows it is strong and sturdy, able to withstand the ages.
The second man sees a different bridge. It is the bridge that his parents crossed. It is made of precious metals and jewels. He knows the craftsmanship is without equal.
The third man sees yet another bridge. It is a new bridge made with the most current science and technology. He knows the bridge is safest to ever be created.
All three men pause on their bridge and mock one another. Each finding faults with the others and none with their own.
The forth man watches all this fighting and bickering and decides to go to the edge of the sea. Yet he finds that the waters have receded and a dry path awaits.

Draw your own conclusions.

The first 'bridge' is made by nature. The fourth man crossed this naturaly created bridge. Only the second and third man are mocking eachother. or the first and fourth man are the same.

cheers


I guess you were tired writing this. (mood??)

Conclusion: No matter what era, there is a way.

reply to post by westlynx

Four men went to cross a sea between two cities. The first man sees a bridge that his ancestors crossed. It is an ancient bridge made of wood and stone. He knows it is strong and sturdy, able to withstand the ages. The second man sees a different bridge. It is the bridge that his parents crossed. It is made of precious metals and jewels. He knows the craftsmanship is without equal. The third man sees yet another bridge. It is a new bridge made with the most current science and technology. He knows the bridge is safest to ever be created. All three men pause on their bridge and mock one another. Each finding faults with the others and none with their own. The forth man watches all this fighting and bickering and decides to go to the edge of the sea. Yet he finds that the waters have receded and a dry path awaits.

The bridges represent everything that the men believe in.

The bridge the ancestors crossed is the equivalent of believing everything in one old book about miracles and absurdities.

The bridge made of precious metals and jewels stands for how the man broke away from the bible and colored the world of make-believe spirits and gods in a better light.

The new bridge is made from logic and reasoning.

While each man fights to save the others from their beliefs, the fourth man is none other than Don Quixote. He drowns in this parable; that dry path is a figment of his imagination.

reply to post by jiggerj


Nice lol