The Pious God

 
Once there was a god so pious, the trees swayed when she 
passed and the tide ebbed when she went wading.
 
One day she said to the ground, 
The trees and the water show me reverence. You must do the same.
 
You are right, replied the ground. 
I am not worthy even to lie beneath your feet.  
 
And from then on, whenever the god went walking, 
the ground gave way beneath her feet 
like the side of a sand dune.
 
I cannot walk when such reverence is shown me, 
said the exasperated god.
 
I show you the reverence you deserve, said the ground.
 
Show me reverence some other way, demanded the god.
 
It is the only way I know, replied the ground, giving way again.
 
The god fell to her knees and crawled to a rock
where she sat, pondering.

Ground, she said, If you show me reverence, 
I shall not be able to move from this rock,
and if I cannot move from this rock, 
then you will never be able to show me reverence.
 
Yes, said the ground.
 
And that is why indifference is sometimes better than respect.
 

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