This man was called Nour. He decided to travel from one community to another, showing the people his discovery.
Nour passed the secret to many groups of people. Some took advantage of the knowledge. Others drove him away, thinking that he must be dangerous, before they had time to understand how valuable this discovery could be to them. Finally, a tribe before which he demonstrated became so panic-stricken that they set about him and killed him, being convinced that he was a demon. (Tales of the Dervishes, p.39)
When we have mastered a new skill, what is the first thing we usually want to do? Show it to someone else.
According to the story, Nour developed a skill that no one else had at the time: creating fire. He set out to show others. How do you react when someone else demonstrates a skill for you? Do you become jealous? Does it inspire you to learn the skill? Are you in awe of the person or do you brush them off?
Parents are usually excited to share and rejoice when their baby learns to roll over, crawl, walk, or say a new word. When do we lose the excitement over learning a new skill? Do we ever become like the groups in the story who are afraid of someone’s skill? What sorts of skills make us afraid? What sort of value do we need to see in a skill in order to consider it useful? Is there a way to present a new skill that encourages us to accept it? Is there a way to present it that would make us fearful? How important is the person demonstrating the skill in our perception of the skill?