Talking Turkey

There is a story, told by Nachman of Bratslav, about a prince who became mad and imagined he was a turkey. The prince took off his clothes, sat under the royal table and refused to eat anything except oats and crumbs. His father, the king, bought all the doctors of the land to him, but none could cure his son. At last a wise man came and undertook to cure the prince. Immediately the wise man took off his clothes an sat naked under the royal table next to the prince, and them began to scratch among the oats and crumbs.

The Prince watched for a while, then asked: "Who are you?" Silence. Then: "What are you doing here?" More silence. Eventually the wise man asked: "And who are your and what are you doing here?" "I am a turkey," said the prince. "and I am a turkey too," replied the wise man. So the two turkeys sat there together till they grew accustomed to one another.

One day the wise man asked the king to had him a vest. He put it on and, shocked, the prince said: "What do you think you're doing?" "Do you imagine that a turkey is not allowed to wear a vest?" replied the wise man. "He is, and it doesn't make him less of a turkey." The prince took his word to heart and decided to wear a vest also. After some days the wise man called for a pair of trousers and said: "Do you think that just because one wearing trousers, a person cannot be a turkey?" The prince agreed, and it went on like this until they were both fully dressed.
Some days later the wise man asked for some human food to be brought from the table: "Do you think that just because one eats food one cannot be a turkey?"

After the prince began to eat like a human being, the wise man asked: "Do you imagine that there is a law that a turkey and is only to sit under the table? It is possible to be a turkey and to sit at the table itself." The prince accepted this, stood up, and walked about thereafter like a human being, behaving like one in every respect.

In this way, concluded Rabbi Nachman, the wise man healed him.

Relationships are complex: for the Christian it is begins with encounter with God and then with other people in a real way.