Yes, I am talking about the children’s story. What does this have to do with spirituality? Lots. There is so much wisdom in the story. Three little pigs set out to build their own houses. One pig built his out of straw, and a second pig built his out of sticks. They finished their building quickly and started playing. They would say to the third piggy, “Come play!” But the third pig was taking his time building his house out of stone.
Now, my interpretation of this first part is as follows: the first two pigs did not want to do their inner work. They just wanted to ‘play’ in the world. They did not care about anything but having fun. What I mean by fun is the way ego would describe fun. The ego only wants to do things that avoid feeling pain or discomfort.
The third pig took a different view. He did not run away from the work (discomfort, pain); he dove right into the task. Building from stone, his body must have ached. He also wanted to play with the other pigs which caused feelings of loneliness. He felt he was doing this alone, yet he kept doing what his inner self told him: what was necessary.
Then enters the big bad wolf who comes and blows the first two pigs’ houses down. Not knowing what to do, they run to the third pig’s stone house. The third pig did not hold the poor choices of the two pigs against them; he let them in the stone house he built.
When we don’t do our inner work, when things get hard, we fall apart. Our patterns to handle our fears come front and center. When the inner work been done, the fears cannot grip us. Yes, it might still be difficult, but now we have tools to help us through our pain. We realize we can choose Love instead of fear. The third little pig did that. He chooses Love over fear. He did not hold it against his friends that he did all the work; he just loved them and invited them into his life.
The big bad wolf could not do anything to frighten them, for the house built was strong and stable. This is no different than the parable in Matthew 7. When we listen to the Spirit within, we build a house that will not be knocked down by rain, like a house built on sand. When we listen to the Spirit, our house is strong.
Our house is the summation of our body, mind, and spirit. Let’s build a strong house. Practice some exercises of stillness, meditation, and sitting with nature. Just find your way to stillness. It is the only way to start relating to Spirit. As your relationship with who you truly are, Love in form, grows, that inner voice will become easier to hear, no matter what is going on in your life.
Let’s build a great home.
Theresa Contaxis 