Once Jupiter and Mercury were disguised as poor humans when They went out for a walk. They came to a town. They said They were broke but if someone had work They'd do it or could they get something to eat and a place out of the weather for the night... They were told that vagrants had to keep on moving. And again and again. Everyone in the town agreed with this attitude. Priests at the local temple must have agreed.
On a hill overlooking the town They asked again and an old couple, Baucis and Philemon, invited them in. They had supper with them and slept on the front porch. At breakfast They told the couple They had to be moving on. Suddenly an outline of glowing purple light surrounded Them
[1] They identified Themselves and the couple groveled. They told them to rise. Then They showed them the city below. For its inhospitality They had sunk it beneath the sea including the temple. They granted the old couple immortality and then went back to Heaven (=Mt. Olympus).
They forgot to give the old couple eternal youth. As they got more feeble and could not die they pleaded with the Immortal Gods for one more boon. The 2 were turned into 2 trees, an oak and a linden and when the breeze blows you can hear the old folks in their eternal retirement whispering, "I love you".
I had a friend who made a hippy trip thru Europe to see the art. Traveling with another American, they came finally to a Greek island. They came to an old village by the sea. There was no lodging. The owner of the local tavern told them they could sleep on his porch. While the Greeks have changed their religion the virtue of
xenia "hospitality" remained. The next morning they turned to the trek home.
Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
...
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, "Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ..."
The point is that people intertwine their wisdom and morality into their fables. The Bible has a lot of such wise observations. So does Greek mythology and the Tao Te Ching. Some of these lessons are the same. So do some traditional north European fables.
Some however have horrendous moral advice about killing and robbing the unwary. If you give supernatural sanction to any of them as a presupposition you are hauling in a lot of junk -- at least.
(I'm trying to be nice about this.)
