I am enchanted by this story of two monks living in the Egyptian desert (the so-called, Desert Fathers of early Christianity"
Two brothers had lived together for many years and never had a quarrel. One day, the first said: ‘Lets have a quarrel like men in the world outside do’. The second replied: ‘But I don’t know how to have a quarrel’. So the first said: ‘Look, I’ll put down a brick between us and I’ll say: “It’s mine”. Then you must reply: “No, it’s mine”. And so the quarrel will begin. So they found a brick and put it between them and the first said: ‘It’s mine’, and the second said: ‘No, it’s mine’. So the first replied: ‘Oh well then, if it’s yours, take it’. And so they did not succeed in having a quarrel.
from France, Peter. Hermits: The Insights of Solitude, Random House.
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