After finishing the day’s work, master and disciple walked back to the temple. In a corner of the road, a blind woman sat next to a building, begging for food or spare change.

After giving it a long thought the disciple asked his master:

“Why did God abandoned that woman?”

”Why do you think God abandoned her?” replied the master.

”She is alone in the street with no food or shelter to help her through the day,” said the disciple.

The master stopped walking and looked into his disciple’s eyes before responding:

”Look at the temple and tell me what you see.”

The disciple stared at the temple and began describing its structure, colours, and how its details communicate a story of the people who built it, giving them a window into the lives of those who came before them. He went on explaining how each space was carefully designed to address the needs of their Order, and after years of sharing moments in it, somehow it had become an extension of the people who lived in it.

“Now, tell me, if we stay here long enough studying the temple, would we be able to understand every person that lives inside its walls? asked the master.

The boy looked into the master’s eyes and said with certainty:

“A temple is a temple. Understanding people requires an intention, disposition, openness, traits that can’t be transferred into what we build inside a space”.

The master smiled and told his disciple:

“When we say that God works in mysterious ways, we are acknowledging that, as limiting as it would be to use our temple to understand each person who lives inside its walls, understanding God’s work by isolating how you are currently relating to this woman’s condition, won’t allow you to discover how God is actively blessing her life. As we speak, God is paving the path for grace to close any gaps that might appear in her heart, but this is not something we can perceive through our eyes.”

“Does that mean we shouldn’t help her or other people in need because they are being blessed?” responded the disciple.

The master resumed his journey toward the temple and asked his disciple:

“And how do you know you are not the blessing God has been crafting for this woman?”