MOSES MENDELSSOHN'S DREAM

Once upon a time there was a man whose wisdom and piety were widely recognized by all races and religions. In addition to his gifts, his recognition, and his talented family, he had a personal grief--he was a hunchback. Oh, how he would have liked to be rid of that deformity--how he wished to stand upstraight like other persons.

One night he dreamed that all humanity had gathered on the meadow in front of the gates of heaven. He and all the others were invited to divest themselves of their one heaviest burden. Quickly he untied the deformity from his back, laid it down on the grass, and stood up straight for the first time in his life.

QUESTIONS

1. What do you feel as you hear this story?

2. Walk through that story asthat man. What has the body movement added to the feelings aroused by that story?

3. Suppose you were having a dream like that. Which one of your griefs and burdens would you choose to lay down? How would you feel after you had laid that one burden down?