Successor

There was a teacher who had five disciples who thought they could succeed this teacher, as he was getting old. Everyone knew that he (the teacher) has to choose a successor soon. One day this teacher called these five disciples and gave them each one hen and said, "Go and kill them where no one can see you doing it."

One went behind the barn and looked around, there was no one and he killed the hen he had. Another went to the cellar and asked everyone to leave and made sure there was no one there and then killed the hen he had. The third walked a long time into a very remote place and did the act. The fourth one knew a cave that no one ever went to and he went there and did what his teacher asked them to do.

These all took around a few hours, but the fifth one did not show up the whole day. Indeed everyone become very worried and were wondering what happened to him. It was late at night that he showed up in his teacher door with the chicken still alive in his hand.

Everyone was surprised and thought the teacher would surely be very upset with him. First he spent so much time out there that everyone became worried sick and then after all this time he still had the hen alive with him and did not do what the teacher asked him!

The teacher asked him, What happened? Why didnt you kill the hen? The disciple said, Well, wherever I went, God was there. I was not alone."

The teacher said, Yes, you know the truth and God better than these other disciples." He was chosen as the successor.