the shortest distance

The Master gave his teaching in parables and stories, which his disciples listened to with pleasure -- and occasional frustration, for they longed for something more meaningful.

The Master was unmoved.  To all their objections he would say, "You have yet to understand, my beloved students, that the shortest distance between a human being and Truth is a story."

When they objected again, asking him for deeper reflections and insights into the meaning of human existence, he said, "Do not despise the story.  Just as a lost gold coin is found by means of a penny candle, the deepest truth is found by means of a simple story."