The Parable of the Rollers by Davin Dahlgren, May 1996 A certain man had a heavy load which he needed to move. In preparation, he cut wood into many blocks and milled them on a lathe until they were smooth and perfectly cylindrical. He then placed them in a path in front of the heavy load. The next morning, he would raise the load onto the rollers and easily push it into place. While he slept, however, his enemy came and said to the rollers, "This is no way to move a load like this! Time-honored tradition and the experience of many men has shown that the wheel is the only way to be really effective." And so, the enemy placed many of the rollers around one roller and fixed them in place with a metal band. He then hoisted the heavy load onto the wheels he had made and left them with these instructions: "You are spokes now, which must rely on the hub. The hub will support you all. There is no need for any of you to mind the others, for they also have the hub." Throughout the night, the load pressed heavily on the wheels until the hubs and many of the spokes could no longer hold it up. The spokes cracked and broke. The hubs were crushed and split. The load fell to the ground and flattened the pieces. In the morning, the man arose and grieved when he found that all his work had come to nothing. The man knew, though, that his enemy could not triumph, he could only delay. So he selected more wood and began to cut and mill new rollers. [Return to Spiritual Studies]