Robert Schneider

Seeing Jerusalem

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Nicolas van Ryk)

In his parable, author Robert Schneider sends two brothers on a journey to Jerusalem and poses the question of a successful life. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers of noble birth. Their father, who had been a squire to the emperor, died in the war when a Moorish arrow struck his chest. Their mother, the empress's favorite maid, breathed her last when the twin brothers had just opened their eyes. So the orphans were brought up by a lady-in-waiting.

From childhood, the brothers competed with each other to see who led the most virtuous and godly life. The lady-in-waiting, who was very pious and just, favored no one, but brought up both in a balance of love and chastisement. When the boys could not fall asleep on long winter nights, she told them the story of the tomb in Jerusalem. One of her talents was to immerse everything in melodious and colorful words. Another was to awaken in the brothers a longing for the distant, unknown world.

The lady-in-waiting told them that a miracle would happen to anyone who saw the tomb of Christ. He never again felt pain or any other inner or outer ailment. His spirits would always remain high, and no more grief would weigh down his soul as long as he lived. When the brothers were grown up and the lady-in-waiting was already an old woman, they decided not to seek wealth, money, fame or honor, but to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Whether it was to obtain the indulgence of all sins or to see the promise that the lady-in-waiting had so often told them about. 

(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

So they set off. But after just a few weeks of walking, a dispute arose among the brothers as to which route was the shortest and also the safest. As they could not become one, they parted at a fork in the road. One decided to take the wide, less rocky road, which was preferred by all pilgrims, while the other took the path that led steeply uphill and was lost in rocky pine forests. They agreed that whoever reached Jerusalem first would wait for the other at the tomb of Christ, every day from sunset until the beginning of the night, no matter how long it took.

"You fool!" he shouted after his brother on the level path. "You'll get lost endlessly and never find your way to Jerusalem! Highwaymen will seek your life, or a wild animal will tear you apart!" But the other no longer heard him calling and warning. They were already too far apart. So they wandered, each on his own path, into the Holy Land.

Soon, after just a few months, the one who had chosen the easy way arrived in Jerusalem. The pilgrimage had seemed short to him. No danger had deterred him from the path. He was overjoyed when he saw the battlements of the city with the golden temple at sunset. Even before he went to the inn, he asked about the tomb of Christ, eager to witness the miracle that the lady-in-waiting had once told him about. He also wanted to see if his brother had arrived before him.

Stony desert instead of joy and happiness
He was not there, so he went through the gate behind which the grave lay. He stood in front of it and felt no happiness. Neither awe nor joy overwhelmed him. Everything seemed a stony desert to him, everything pointless, even laughable and empty. He regretted having taken the step into the holy land, indeed, he cursed Jerusalem and, in the end, himself.

Now he waited for his brother every day, just as they had agreed among themselves. But the weeks and months passed without anyone ever waiting for him at the gates of the tomb at sunset. He then decided to return home to his homeland. He returned disillusioned, feeling that he had wasted his time on this pilgrimage. Years passed and he thought his brother had been dead for a long time when he stood before him one morning, dusty and emaciated to the bone. They fell into each other's arms, embraced and were very happy to see each other again. Then the one who had long since returned home asked whether his brother had felt the same way as he had when he had stood in front of the tomb.

What does the miracle of Jerusalem mean?
"I have not been to Jerusalem," he replied. "As you predicted, I went astray and lost my way. As you suspected, robbers attacked me and broke my arm with sticks. I thought I was going to die from the bite of a snake, I was so shaken by the fever. But I stayed on my path. Suddenly, I don't know how it happened, I no longer felt the need to arrive in Jerusalem. Suddenly I felt an unbridled happiness, a wonderful desire to live. I only ever had Jerusalem in mind, not the withered tree by the road, the scorched fields, the bitter mountains and dried-up rivers. I only ever had the tomb of Christ and the supposed miracle before my eyes. Not the laughter of the child who gave me a piece of his bread. Not the old man who bandaged my arm and took me into his hut. Not the Castilian boy who taught me to play the oud, and not the dying soldier who comforted me instead of me comforting him. I knew then that the miracle of Jerusalem must mean something else. That's when I realized that you don't have to reach your goal to live a successful life."