Once upon a time a young man sought out an old wise woman, whom some said was a saint.
The hut was almost empty, with only some simple necessities.
As they sat together peace soothed the visitor.
They spent time in silence together and then he asked the burning question of his heart:
"Do you know where I can find God?"
She looked at him with interest and didn't answer for a moment.
Then she said, "That's not as easy question. I need to think on it so I can answer you clearly. Can you come back tomorrow after I've prayed?"
Immediately the young man nodded his assent.
And then the old woman added, "Would you
bring me a glass of milk when you come?"
The night could not pass quickly enough for the young man, and he was back at the hut, with his glass of milk as requested, right on time. He was welcomed in, and they sat together in silence again.
As he waited, not really with any patience, the old woman poured the milk into her begging bowl. Then she stirred it with her fingers, swirling it around and around, lifting it with her fingers.
Of course, the milk ran through her fingers, and she frowned as it fell back into the bowl.
She did this over and over and over again, never looking up at him.
He was impatient and wanted his answer. He watched, wondering what in the world she was doing with the milk.
But she kept at stirring the milk, lifting it and looking at her hand after it had run down her fingers and back into the bowl.
Finally the young man couldn't stand it anymore
and blurted out, "Please, what are you doing? What are you looking
for?"
She looked up at him and said, "I had heard that there was butter in the milk.
I'm looking for the butter, but I can't seem to find it."
The young man almost burst out laughing.
He was quick to correct her, saying, "No,
no. It's not like that at all. You don't understand. The butter isn't in the
milk. It's not separate from it. The milk gets converted into yogurt
and then from a churning, out comes the butter."