Clara Jean Llorca

EVERYBODY HAS HIS BURDEN

(A Folktale from Indonesia)

“Everybody has his burden but the heaviest burden is for the small and the low.”

~ Indonesian Proverb

Everybody Has His Burden is a folktale about an argument happened among the root, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, and the fruits of a very beautiful tree admired by passersby. It all started when a voice [root’s] from beneath cried out its complaint and said how heavy its burden was. The branch did not accept what it heard. It also defended its agony and acclaimed itself as the most burdened part of the tree. But the argument between them was heard by the other parts. Thus, each laid their complaints and burden. But all ended with the root saying,

“All of you depend on me. If I don’t exist all of you will not be there. If I’m sick then there will be no trunk, no leaves, and no fruit. I have to work hard for all of you, looking for the food you all need. Have you no thought of me who has to do so much for all of you? Do you think only of your feelings?”

Human beings by nature are complaints – fond. We see the dark clouds more than the light that the sun still gives when it’s raining in the morning. Nobody says, “Even the sun is hidden behind those clouds, I can still see things because of it.” but rather, “Ugh. When will this rain be over?! I’m totally pissed. ” But when the sunny season comes, we start complaining again of how irritating the weather is. We already see ourselves an object of pity even when it’s just a matter of pee – size problem. We groan when things go out of our plan. We sometimes become fastidious, panicky and/or, at rare times, just as inconsiderate and insensitive as ever.

Our self – centeredness often cause blindness in our hearts that make the most belittled be forgotten. This simple yet striking folktale of our fellow Indonesians wants us to be as sympathetic as a feeling – being should be. And although not mentioned in the story, we should not also forget that there was One who sacrificed a lot, shed more blood, and was belittled by others and yet never complained – JESUS. He was like the root without the complaints that carried the full load upon his shoulder. All that we need to do is widen our shallow cranium and suspend our self – centeredness. With that, we can surely understand why we carry the burden that God allows us to have. For everything - as the most used saying goes - has its own reason for existence.

So, to extract the substance of this folktale and integrate something important, Here’s a story of a Saint [I forgot who] who dreamt of God.

“He complained to the Highest that his load was too heavy for him. The Lord then let him entered to 3 different rooms where he could get 3 different crosses of which he would choose from, the burden he would carry from then on. In the first room, he found a cross so big and heavy that he could not lift it even for an inch. He left the room for the second one where he found a very small and light cross. He also left the room for he believed it was too light for him. When he entered the third room, there he found a cross of an average size and of average weight. So he chose the third one as the best; not too heavy and not too light. When he went out the room carrying the cross upon his shoulder, he told God that it was the one he preferred. God then smiled at him and said, “That cross you have chosen is the same cross you are complaining about.”

The moral’s the same. The message’s clear. Patience and Humility.

~ C.J Y. Llorca