Seasons of the Soul

"This Is Good!"

The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"

To which the king replied - "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.

"You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened." And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"

"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

"If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you, and not here with you right now."

~Author Unknown

The House of One Thousand Mirrors

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the house, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."

All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?

 

~Author Unknown

The Precious Stone

 

There was once a wise woman traveling in the mountains who found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and she opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked if she might give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But only a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman who had given it to him.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I'm giving it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. I want you to give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone." 

 ~Author unknown

 

The Leaf

By Jacquelyn Wheeler  

 

   It was late in autumn. The leaves were changing colors and falling from the trees. The air was cold and dry, and the sun began to rise later and set earlier every day.

   One crisp morning, when most of the leaves had already dropped, one leaf was clinging to its branch. It was not ready to drop. “I don’t want to fall,” it said. “I don’t know what will happen when I do.”

   The wind whistled through the empty branches. It sounded like it was whispering something. “No beginnings…no endings,” it seemed to say.

   The leaf shivered, watching the last remaining leaves fall to the ground. The air was so cold now. The leaf was dry and brittle and could barely hang on. But still it was afraid.

   It remembered the spring, when it had been a tender bud and the rain bounced off of it. It thought of summer, when it was a strong green leaf soaking up the sun and swaying in warm breezes at night. And it remembered how beautiful all the leaves had looked in early autumn when they began to change colors. But now all the leaves were gone, and the leaf felt sad. It was the last one left.

   “No beginnings…no endings,” the wind whispered again. The leaf heard it clearly this time and wondered what it meant. It looked down at the leaves below. They were scattered all over the ground, some flitting around in the wind, some lying still, beginning to decompose and become part of the soil. The leaf felt very alone.

   Finally, a strong gust of wind blew through the branches, and the leaf could hold on no longer. It let go of the tree. The wind cradled it gently as it fell slowly side to side, down to the earth, where at last it came to rest among the other leaves.

   After a few moments, the leaf looked up at the bare branches of the tree. The tree looked so empty, but the leaf did not feel sad. It felt peaceful. The tree looked like it was asleep, and it looked right without any leaves on it. The leaf felt that it was finally where it should be. It no longer felt alone or afraid. 

   In the days that followed, the leaf relaxed completely as it was gently stirred by the wind, sometimes flying up a few feet above the ground, sometimes lying still. It felt peace as it began to crumble and become part of the soil. It felt happy as it broke down into nutrients in the soil, which mixed with rainwater to become food for the tree. And as the months passed, it felt bliss as the tree slowly sucked up the nutrients and sprouted tender new buds in the spring.

   As the new buds soaked up the morning sun, they thought about the coming time when they would become leaves and stretch out away from their branches. As some of them wondered what it would feel like to be a leaf, they heard the wind whistling in the branches. It sounded like it was whispering something. “No beginnings…no endings,” it seemed to say.

The Frog Story

There were two frogs that hopped along a path, and lo and behold they found themselves leaping unexpectedly into a deep well. Although they pondered the situation and tried hopping out, the depth of the well made their circumstances seem hopeless.

Other frogs arrived, hearing their croaking cries for help. However, as the new frogs appraised the situation, it appeared to them, too, that there was no way out.  So they called down to the two frogs who were hopping as high as they could to forget it, accept their fate, and live out the remaining time of their lives in the bottom of the well.
One of the frogs, hearing the advice of the others, decided after a few more tries that they were right. He stopped and sat dejectedly at the bottom of the well.

However, the other frog seemed undeterred. The more the frogs at the top told him to stop, the more he jumped. The more they waved at him to give it up, the more he attempted to go just a little bit higher.

All of a sudden, with one extraordinary leap, the frog leaped over the top of the well, freed from his entrapment. The other frogs were stunned and amazed.

The frogs circled him and asked how he’d done it. However, he couldn’t hear them, for he was deaf.

The frog who freed himself thought the other frogs who were discouraging him were actually cheering him on, and because of this he did not give up.
~Author Unknown

The Obstacle on Our Path

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keepting the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.

A peasant came along, carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the huge stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse cntained many gold coins and a note frm the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand...

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

~Author Unknown

Ingredients Make the Cake

A little boy is telling his Grandma how everything is going
wrong. School, family problems, severe health problems,
etc. Meanwhile, Grandma is baking a cake. She asks her grandson
if he would like a snack, which, of course, he does.
“Here, have some cooking oil."
Yuck," says the boy.
“How about a couple raw eggs? "
“Gross, Grandma!"
“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"
“Grandma, those are all yucky!"
 To which Grandma replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad
 by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!

The Piano Lesson

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother
took the small boy to a Paderewski concert.  After they were seated,
the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to
greet her.

Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE."

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the
mother returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive
Steinway on stage.  In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at
the keyboard, innocently picking out  "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved
to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't stop; "Keep playing."
Then  leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began  filling in a bass part.  Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato.  Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully  creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.
 
That's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy.  We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music.
 
But with the hand of the Master, our life's work truly can be beautiful. The next time that you set out to accomplish great feats, listen  carefully. You can hear the voice of Spirit whispering in your ear, "Don't quit; "Keep playing." Feel loving arms around you.
As the strong hands of your Creator are playing the concert of your life.

Remember, God doesn't call the equipped; God equips the called.
~Author Unknown

Meeting God

 
There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six- pack of root beer, and he started his journey.
 
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman.  She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons.  The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase.  He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry so he offered her a Twinkie.  She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.  Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?"  He replied, "I had lunch with God. But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what?  She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!" 

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God."  But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  Embrace all equally.
~Author Unknown

It Makes A Difference

While walking along a beach, a man saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean. As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young man picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the water.

After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said,: "There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to get to all of them. There are simply too many. You can't possibly save enough to make a difference." The young man smiled as he continued to pick up another starfish and toss it back into the ocean "IT MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THAT ONE," he replied.