Currents

The lord sat by the pond beneath the cherry tree. The offending servant was brought before him. He, too, trembled.

“Do you see the water?” said the lord.

The servant nodded.

“It is still, yet it moves. The currents are not visible to your eyes. If you were a fish, you would know them, here, in your heart.”

“I have not the eyes of a god, Lord.”

“I will give you a gift,” said the lord. He gestured. There was a soft sigh. “I hope,” he told the new fish in the pond, “you will learn to see more clearly.”