Harmonious Living with Heaven and Earth

Zhuangzi’s friend complained about a useless tree on the roadside that every carpenter ignored. Despite its humongous size, its trunk and limbs are gnarled, making it unsuitable to build furniture. People can’t use its wood to build boats because it would sink.

To his friend’s surprise, the sage said, “What are you complaining about? Think on behalf of this tree. Just because it’s useless, it’s still alive. If it is useful, people would have cut it down long ago and made something out of it. Now, because it’s still here, travelers like us can rest under its shade. Don’t you think it’s useful for that purpose? Don’t look at things only for their utility. Think harmoniously.”

Some days later, Zhuangzu visited a friend who enthusiastically welcomed the sage, asking his son to kill a rooster for dinner to entertain the guest. His son asked, “Dad, which one should I kill—the one that crow or the one that doesn’t?” Dad said, “Of course, the one that doesn’t crow.” (In ancient days, rooster crow at sunrise, so they were the organic alarm clocks for the family.)

Hearing the host’s order, Zhuangzi’s students said to the sage, “Teacher, didn’t you say that being useless is good when you talked about the huge useless tree? Now, they killed the useless rooster for dinner. Are you wrong?”

The sage replied, “Did I tell you being useless is always good? No! There are times when being useless is not good and times when being useless is good. You need to think harmoniously with time and situation. If you were a tree, you would rather be a useless tree so that you would survive. If you were a rooster, it’s another matter.” (End of the story.)

The point of the story is that there are times when we should reveal our gifts and times when we should be humble and keep a low profile. There are times to speak up and times to shut up. If you show off your talent at the wrong time and space, you will be cut down like a tree. If you keep silent when you are in a role as a rooster, you will become dinner. Just as King Solomon said,

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; (Ec 3:1–2).

Last year, I transplanted a few redbud trees in my yard around late fall because that was the time I was motivated to do. But they all died off in winter. The action you take should be harmonious with time and space. Sometimes harmony is easier said than done. There are two verses in the Proverbs that sound contradictory:

Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.
Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes. (Pr 26:4–5).

Don’t you think these two verses are contradictory? The first asks you not to answer fools lest you become like them, but immediately, the second asks you to answer. These two verses are a great example of knowing when to respond and when not based on time and space.

The first verse tells us not to argue with fools when your argument makes you appear like a fool. The second verse tells us we should argue with fools when keeping silent would make them arrogant—thinking of themselves as wise people. You have to pick the right action at the right time and space.

These verses explain why Jesus sometimes stayed silent and other times engaged in a debate with the religious leaders. They were fools, but sometimes, Jesus chose to answer them to teach the audience or keep them from thinking too highly of themselves.

You need to choose the right time and space to apply those two proverbs. Just like Kenny Roger’s song says,

“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run” (~The Gambler)

This song treats life as a gamble, making decisions by looking at people’s eyes. However, Jesus taught us how to read the will of God to know when to hold and when to fold. It’s straightforward because there are only two rules to live a harmonious life.

So, today, we will explore how to live in harmony with heaven and earth based on what Jesus taught us in this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s begin!