Collection of spiritual short story

From
www.spiritual-short-story.com
 

A Ba
ag of Nails
s
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
There oncee was a young boy with a veryy bad temper. The boy's fathe er wanted to te
each him a lessson, so he gave
e him
a bag of na
ails and told him
m that every tim
me he lost his temper
t he musst hammer a na ail into their wooden fence.
On the firstt day of this les
sson, the little boy
b had driven 37 nails into th
he fence. He was
w really mad!
Over the co ext few weeks, the little boy be
ourse of the ne egan to control his temper, so
o the number of
o nails that were
hammered d into the fence dramatically decreased.
d
It wasn't long before the little boy discovvered it was ea
asier to hold hiss temper than to
t drive those nails
n into the fence.
Then, the day
d finally came when the littlle boy didn't losse his temper even
e once, and
d he became so
o proud of himself,
he couldn'tt wait to tell his father.
Pleased, his father sugge
ested that he no
ow pull out one
e nail for each day
d that he cou
uld hold his tem
mper.
eeks went by and the day fina
Several we ally came when
n the young boyy was able to te
ell his father th
ha all the nails were
w
gone.
Very gentlyy, the father too
ok his son by th
he hand and le
ed him to the fe
ence.
"You have done very well, my son," he smiled,
s "but loo
ok at the holes in the fence. The
T fence will never
n be the sa
ame."
The little bo
oy listened carrefully as his fatther continued to speak.
"When you u say things in anger,
a they leaave permanent scars just like these. And no matter how ma
any times you say
you're sorry, the wounds will still be therre."

A Fo
ox an
nd a Tiger
T
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
One day a tiger was hun nting around in
n a forest. An unlucky fox was met and ca aught by the tiger. For the fo
ox, the
w very clear -- death. Despite the danger, the fox though
inescapablle destination was ht hard to find a way out.
t fox declared to the tiger, "How
Promptly, the " dare you kill me!"
On hearing g the words thhe tiger was su
urprised and assked for the re eason" The foxx raised his vo
oice a bit higheer and
declared arrogantly: "To tell
t you the trutth, it's I who wa
as accredited by
b God to the forest
f as the kin
ng of all the an
nimals!
If you kill me,
m that will be against the Go
od's will, you knnow?"
Seeing thaat the tiger beca
ame suspicionss, the fox adde
ed: "Let's have a test. Let's go
o through the fo
orest. Follow me
m and
you will see
e HOW THE ANIMALS
A ARE FRIGHTENED D OF ME." The tiger agreed.
So the fox walked ahead d of the tiger proudly
p through
h the forest. Ass you can ima
agine, the anim
mals, seeing thee tiger
behind, we ere all terribly frightened
f and ran away. Th hen the fox said proudly: "There is no doubbt that what I said
s is
true, isn't itt?"
The tiger had
h nothing to say
s but to ackn
nowledge the re
esult. So the tig
ger nodded and
d said:
"You are right. You are th
he king."

 
 

A Glass of
o Millk
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
One day, a poor boy who o was selling goods from doo
or to door to pa
ay his way through school, found he had on
nly one
thin dime le
eft, and he was
s hungry.
He decided
d he would as a the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman
sk for a meal at w
opened the
e door.
Instead of a meal he ask ked for a drink of water! She thought he loo
oked hungry so
o brought him a large glass of
o milk.
He drank itt so slowly, and
d then asked, How
H much do I owe you?"
You don't owe
o me anythin
ng," she replied
d. "Mother has taught us neve
er to accept pa
ay for a kindnesss."
He said ... "Then I thank you
y from my he
eart."
As Howard ger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong alsso. He
d Kelly left that house, he not only felt strong
had been ready
r to give up and quit.
Many year's later that sam me young wom man became critically ill. The local
l doctors were
w hey finally sent her to
baffled. Th
the big cityy, where they ca
alled in speciallists to study he
er rare disease
e.
Dr. Howard d Kelly was ca
alled in for the consultation.
c W
When he heard
d the name of the
t town she came
c from, a strange
light filled his
h eyes.
Immediately he rose and went down the
e hall of the hosspital to her roo
om.
n his doctor's go
Dressed in own he went in
n to see her. He
e recognized her at once.
He went back
b to the con
nsultation room
m determined to
t do his best to save her liffe. From that day
d he gave special
s
attention to
o her case.
After a long
g struggle, the battle was won
n.
Dr. Kelly re
equested the business
b office to pass the final bill to him fo
or approval. He
e looked at it, th
hen wrote sommething
on the edge, and the bill was w sent to her room. She feared to open itt, for she was sures it would ta
ake the rest of her
h life
to pay for itt all. Finally she
e looked, and something
s caught her attentio on on the side of the bill. She read these woords ...
"Paid in full with one glass of milk"
(Signed) Dr.
D Howard Kelly.

A Most Im
mporttant Quest
Q tion
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
During my second month h of nursing sch hool, our professsor gave us a pop quiz. I wa
as a conscientious student an
nd had
breezed through the ques
stions, until I re
ead the last one
e:
"What is th
he first name off the woman wh
ho cleans the school?"
s
Surely this was some kin nd of joke. I had
d seen the clea
aning woman several
s times. She
S was tall, darkhaired
d and in her
50s, but ho
ow would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving g the last questtion blank. Befo
ore class ended, one
student askked if the last question
q would count toward our quiz grade.
ofessor. "In your careers you
"Absolutelyy," said the pro u will meet many people. All are significantt. They deserve
e your
attention and care, even if all you do is smile
s and say hello." I've nevver forgotten tha
at lesson...
I also learn
ned her name was
w Ruthie.

 
 

A Prrayer Away
y
Spirittual Sto
ory by Glenys
G s Cunnin
ngham
m
The woman sat, watchingg the people around her, feeling the pain of the child who o fell off his biccycle the tiredn
ness of
the old man who was slow
wly making hiss way home. Sh o the children playing together on the jungle gym
he felt the joy of
and saw th
he happiness of the young couuple walking ha
and in hand.
Some glan nced her way as
a they passed d the bench sh he was sitting on,
o but they ne
ever spared he
er a thought. No
N one
noticed the
e unshed tears in her eyes as she sat there watching and feeling.
f
So much pain
p in the world
d, so much hap
ppiness and so
o much loneline
ess.
So many people
p doing so
s many thingss, so involved in their own moments.
m There
e just wasn't space for thoug
ghts of
others.
And as she e watched, her mind drifted to
o another place
e, another time. A time when she was like thhem -- wrapped
d up in
her own life ery. Sometimess she wished she could return
e her own mise n to those dayss, and yet...
Just then her
h attention was
w caught by a face she had dn't noticed in a long time. A face which re eflected contentment,
joy, peace and love. Wiping away the remnants
r of the
e tears, she stoood up and witth a final glancce into the pond next
to the bencch, she headed toward the fallen
f child, helped him up, wiped
w his tearss, returned his smile and offeered to
help the old
d man home with
w his shoppin ng
No, she did dn't want to return to the old days. Those were
w the days when loneliness was unbearrable. Now, altthough
still lonely for
f human com mpany, she had d love in her he
eart and comforrt was just a prayer away.

A Ra
abbi and
a a Ghost
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
It was Neww Year's night, and the Rabbii was walking to
t his home wh
hen he met a shadowy
s e. He was stunned to
figure
see that it was a man ofo the city who
o had recently died! "What are
a you doing here?" the Ra abbi asked, "yo
ou are
supposed tot be dead."
"Rabbi, you
u know," replied the ghost, "th
hat this is the night
n when souls reincarnate on
o earth. I am such a soul."
"And why were
w you sent back
b again?"
"I led a perrfectly blameles
ss life here on earth," the dea
ad man told him
m.
"And yet," remarked the Rabbi,
R "you we
ere forced to be
e born here aga
ain?"
"Yes," said
d the other, "when I passed ono I thought about everything I had done anda I found it sos good; I had
d done
everything just right. My heart
h swelled with
w pride, and just
j then I died
d. So I was sen
nt back to pay for that."
The figure disappeared and
a the Rabbi, pondering, went on to his home. Shortly aftter, a son was born to his wife
e. The
child becam
me Rabbi Wolff, who was an extremely
e humble man.

 
 

A Re
esolv
ved Fiight
Spirittual Sto
ory by Amand
A da Garb
butt
Shortly afte
er reading A Course in Miracles for the first time, I was sta
anding on my balcony
b and I saw
s a fight bre
eak out
with my onne son's friend and a boy who
o didn't even livve here but had d lived in a building across fro
om us. This bo
oy was
hurting my son's friend.
I began to pray...
At first it didn't work beca
ause the boy was
w still hurting g my son's friend and then I saw our Superrintendent's so on who
had alwayss been a bully with my three e children. I pra
ayed for him too help out my son's friend buut to use his fiighting
ways for a good purpose e, and to my su
urprise, he wennt over and helped my son's friend
f by firmlyy squeezing thee back
of the outsider's neck.
As he did this
t I prayed for no overly forcce but to use his fighting abilities for good... he let go and the outsider lefft. The
moral of the story is that I taught someo u his fighting abilities for good. It ended th
one, through prrayer, how to use he fight
with just on
ne grip of his ha
and, as a resullt of my prayerss.

A Siimple
e Truth
Spirittual Sto
ory by Osho
O
A great master was sitting on the sea ashore, on the e beach, and a man who wa as seeking forr truth came too him,
touched hiss feet and aske
ed, "If I am nott disturbing you
u, I would like to
t do anything you suggest which
w can help me to
find the truth."
The master simply closed
d his eyes and remained silen
nt. The man shook his head. HeH said in his own
o mind, "Thiis man
seems to be
b crazy. I am asking him a question
q and hee is closing hiss eyes." He sho
ook the man annd said, "Whatt about
my questio
on?"
The masteer said, "I answ
wered it. Just sit silently... do
on't do anythinng, and the grrass grows by itself. You nee
ed not
bother abo
out it—everythin
ng will happen.. You just sit silently, enjoy sillence."
The man said, "Can you give
g it a name—
—because peo
ople will be askking me, "What are you doing?
?"
So he wrotte on the sand with his finger:: meditation.
The man said, "This is too
o short an answ
wer. Be a little more elaborate
e."
The master wrote in big le
etters: MEDITA
ATION.
The man said, "But these
e are simply big
g letters. You are
a writing the same
s thing."
aster said, "If I say more than that, then it will be wrong. If you can underrstand, then jusst do what I havve told
The old ma
you and yo
ou will know."

 
 

A Sttory of
o Sorrrow
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
The mall was
w over-crowded, shoppers rushed
r from sto
ore to store
Nobody paaid attention as she crouched there on the floor.
She didn't look in trouble and she didn't seem afraid
Apparentlyy she stopped to rest, she did not need my aid.
a
A little girl of
o 8 or 9 and cute as she cou uld be
I wondered d, should I stop
p and ask if she
e needs help fro
om me?
I wondered d if her mother had just left he
er there alone
I thought, as
a I walked by her, in my hastte to get back home.
h
As I left thee mall I could not
n get her off my
m mind
Did that litttle girl need help? Was I just acting
a blind?
It bothered
d me so much, I had to go bacck in the mall
I have to get this settled in my mind oncce and for all.
The mall began to close, I heard some chain
c doors coming down
oked the little girl
But as I loo g was no whe
ere to be found..
Is it my ima
agination that again
a is running
g wild
Thinking I had
h lost my chance to help th his poor lost child.
I guess shee must be fine or she would still
s be sitting he
ere
I get way to
oo emotional at
a Christmas tim
me each year.
I had to lea
ave and get bac
ck home where e it is safe and warm
The weather forecast for that night -- a chilling
c winter storm.
s
Late that night it happene
ed as the weath
her station said
d
Frigid cold and heavy snoow while I was snug in bed.
In the morn
ning I awoke too winter's nastyy caper
The only place I'd go thatt day was out too get the paperr.
Cozy in myy kitchen with my
m news and cup of tea
But as I saw the front pag
ge, it just devassted me.
On the fronnt page down below,
b a little he
eadline read
"At the loca all a little girl found dead".
al shopping ma
It was 4 A.M. this morning g when police received
r the ca
all
The caller said
s "A little girrl was dead behind the mall".
It was the chilling
c elemen
nts that broughtt her close to death
d
As she lay down she fell asleep
a eathed her final breath.
and bre
I could not read the rest ofo it as I began to weep
pt safe a little girl
While I slep g had frozen in her sleep.
Many yearss have passed me now, but itt still haunts myy dreams
Was the litttle girl they fou
und the same one
o I had seen??
I can't forge
et that little girl no matter how
w I try
But now wh hen someone seems s in need I never pass them by.
The lessonn I have learned
d from this wass difficult but tru
ue.
The last ch
hance that sommeone may havve could very well w be you.

 
 

A Us
seles
ss Life
e
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A farmer got so old that he
h couldn't worrk the fields anymore. So he would
w spend th he day just sittiing on the porcch. His
son, still wo m, would look up from time to time and see his
orking the farm h father sitting
g there. "He's ofo no use any more,"
m
the son tho ought to himsellf, "he doesn't do
d anything!"
One day th he son got so frustrated
f by th
his, that he built a wood coffin
n, dragged it ovver to the porch, and told his father
to get in. Without
W saying anything, the father climbed d inside. After closing the lid
d the son dragg ged the coffin to the
edge of thee farm where there
t was a hiigh cliff. As he approached the drop, he he eard a light tappping on the lid
d from
inside the coffin.
c
He opened d it up. Still lyin
ng there peace
efully, the fathe ow you are goiing to throw me over
er looked up at his son. "I kno
the cliff, bu
ut before you do o, may I sugge
est something?"
"What is it?
?" replied the son.
s
"Throw mee over the cliff, if you like," sa
aid the father, "but save this good wood co
offin... Your ch
hildren might ne
eed to
use it."

And
d May
ybe No
ot
Spirittual Sto
ory by Louis
L S
Szabo
Sometimess, insights com
me in unexpectted ways and that
t is what haappened to me e recently. I wa
as quietly sittin
ng in a
bus when two
t young wommen stepped inn and sat, one beside me and the other one in front of me e and to my le eft (this
ats, two seats were face to fa
part of the bus had 4 sea ace). The ladyy sitting beside me wore a ruccksack, and th he lady
across movved seats so th
hat the woman would have a place to put he er rucksack.
The lady with
w the rucksac ck then spoke up and said, "O
Oh, I'm used to
o it and I keep it with me in case
c someone wants
to sit here". The other one
e responded " And maybe no ot."
I wouldn't have
h been morre surprised if I had a Buddhiist master facin
ng me. That waas the most suurprising insightt I had
for a long time.
t I discoverred suddenly th
hat my inner ta
alk with a dread
dful tendency to
t picture the worst
w – you knoow the
little story you
y keep telling
g yourself – could be wrong (or at least a ne
egative outcom
me).
ake? And what if I didn't alwayys have to believe in it? I disccovered that all I had
And what if all that could be a big mista
to do was introduce
i a sim
mple "and maybbe not."
What a reliief...

Ang
gel of Grass
Spirittual Sto
ory by Rose
R B
Benning
gton
An old lege
end says that in the beginnin
ng, when God created the wo orld, He gave every
e living thing an angel to
o bless
and guard it - an angel fo
or man, one fo
or the birds, on
ne for the beasts of the forestt one for the trrees, and one for
f the
flowers.
Even the common
c grass had an angel. But the angell of the grass was
w not please
ed. Humiliated, he said, "I willl have
nothing to do with it. Thatt old, homely grass can grow by itself!"
The season passed. The grass shrivele ed, the flowers died because the grass held no dew, the dee in the foressts and
the cattle in
n the fields died
d because therre was no grasss.
Then God turned His eye
es upon the angel of the grasss and asked, "Was
" it a smalll thing, or a gre
eat thing that I asked
thee to do?
?"
In shame the
t angel of the e grass fell at the Lord's feett and begged His
H forgivenesss, for he saw now
n the unsusp
pected
greatness of his seemingly lowly task.
Thanks to Malladi for sha
aring this spiritu
ual story!

 
 

Bea
auty of
o A Child's
s Kiss
s
Spirittual Sto
ory by Geetika
G a Choprra
I met Kumkum at a child dren's home in Delhi. It is a home
h where children
c who arre sick are pro
ovided treatmennt and
care before e being sent to
o some other orphanage. Kum mkum was 7 ye ears old, and a very brave sooul. Despite suffering
from tubercculosis, I never saw her cryin
ng. She had losst her parents to this terrible disease and was
w herself struuggling
through it.
Upon meeting, we had ta aken instant likking for each other.
o Every Saturday I would visit Kumkum m and play witth her.
She would d love to sit in
n my lap. It was
w one such moment that the child felt like kissing me...
m and I sudddenly
remembere ed that she wa as suffering fro
om tuberculosiss which is a co
ommunicable disease.
d d to stop her but she
I tried
really wantted to show heer affection forr me, so in tha
at one instance
e I overcame my
m fear and lett her place the e most
gentle, swe
eetest kiss on my
m cheek that I ever had.
Although I overcame my fear at that moment,
m I have not forgiven myself
m for refussing her initiallyy. Although the
e child
kissed me, I think she sen nsed my relucttance because she has neverr kissed me again. I will neverr forget that the e most
beautiful th
hing in this world is a child's kiss... so full of love and innoccence.

Blin
ndnes
ss
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
There wass a blind girl who hated herse elf because shhe was blind. SheS hated eve
eryone, except her loving boyyfriend
who was always there forr her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see theWorld, I will marry you
u.'
One day, someone
s donaated a pair of eyes
e to her. When
W the band
dages came offf, she was ablle to see everyything,
including her
h boyfriend.
He asked her,'Now
h that you
y can see th
he world, will yo
ou marry Me?' The girl looked at her boyfrie
end and saw that he
was blind.
The sight ofo his closed eyelids shockedd her. She had
dn't expected th
hat, and the thought of lookin
ng at hem the rest of
her life led Her to refuse to
t marry him.
Her boyfrie
end left in tears
s and days later wrote a note to her that said
d:
'Take good
d care of your eyes,
e my dear, for before theyy Were yours, they
t were mine
e.'

Boy
y and the Socce
S r Gam
me
Spirittual Sto
ory by Shiv
S Kh
hera
Once there e lived a boy who
w was very interested in football.
f Along with his fathe o everyday go to the
er he would go
playing field. Both of them
m would sit in different
d places.
Days passed by and the day of tournamment was coming near, but the boy sudden nly stopped com
ming to the gro
ounds.
Then after 15 days he unexpectedly rea
appeared and asked
a his coach to let him pla
ay.
Although th he coach was in i a dilema whether the boy could
c play, he decided to let him
h play. In facc, the team wo
on as a
result of the boy's signific
cant contributions.
Later, the coach
c he boy how he could perform so well in spite
asked th e of not practiciing a single dayy. The boy said
d,
"Coach, myy father was watching me."
The coach was very clearly annoyed.
hen continued, "Sir I used to daily
The boy th d come with
h my father but he was blind. I stopped playing because I knew
he couldn'tt see me play.
Recently my
m father died, and now I know s me from the abode of Go
w that he can see od."

 
 

Buillding Yourr Hom

me
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
An elderly carpenter wass ready to retire. He told hiss employer-con ntractor of his plans to leave
e the house-bu
uilding
business to
o live a more leisurely life with his wife and
d enjoy his extended family. He would misss the paycheckk each
week, but he
h wanted to reetire. They cou uld get by.
The contra y to see his good worker go and
actor was sorry a asked if he could build just one more house as a pe ersonal
favor. The carpenter said
d yes, but oveer time it was easy
e to see th
hat his heart was
w not in his work.
w He resorrted to
shoddy woorkmanship andd used inferior materials. It wa
as an unfortuna
ate way to end a dedicated ca
areer.
When the carpenter
c finish
hed his work, his
h employer caame to inspect the house. Thhen he handed the front-door key to
the carpenter and said, “T use… my gift to you.”The carrpenter was sho
This is your hou ocked!
What a sha
ame! If he had only known he h own house,, he would have done it all so
e was building his o differently.

Burden
Spirittual Sto
ory by Amir
A Sa
aleem
He could hardly
h walk. He was carrying an
a unseen burd
den.
His feet we ere heavy, as if there were a million passag H heart was heavy, as if a million
ges clung to hiss tired shoes. His
sinful thoug ghts were stufffed into his inte
entions. His eyyes were heavyy, as if a millionn repentant tea
ars flooded thee gates
of his life. His hands werre heavy, as if holding a milliion page book of decaying deeds. d His head was heavy, as if a
million evil plans were stuuck in his tomo orrow. His lips were
w heavy, ass if a million com
mplaints buzze ed in silence.
With so mu
uch burden — that
t slowed down his speed to
t redemption — he entered the
t sacred placce
God was waiting
w for him since
s long — th
hey talked.
When he came
c out, he went away flying
g.

Callling Card
C
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Keichu, the
e great Zen tea
acher of the Me eiji era, was the
e head of Tofuku, a cathedral in Kyoto. One
e day the goverrnor of
Kyoto calle
ed upon him forr the first time.
His attenda
ant presented the
t card of the governor, whicch read: Kitaga
aki, Governor of
o Kyoto.
"I have no business with such
s a fellow," said Keichu to
o his attendant.. "Tell him to ge
et out of here.""
The attend
dant carried the card back with
w apologies. "That was myy error," said the governor, and
a with a pen
ncil he
scratched out
o the words Governor
G of Kyyoto. "Ask yourr teacher again."
"Oh, is thatt Kitagaki?" exc acher when he saw the card. "I want to see that fellow."
claimed the tea

 
 

Con
nfiden
nce Le
evel
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A man had d been on a lon
ng flight. The first warning of the approaching problems came when the sign on the airplane
flashed on: "Fasten your seat belts." Th hen, after a while, a calm voicce said, "We shhall not be servving the bevera
ages at
this time ass we are expec
cting a little turb
bulence. Please be sure yourr seat belt is fasstened."
As he lookked around the ecame obviouss that many of the passengers were beco
e aircraft, it be oming apprehe ensive.
Later, the voice of the announcer
a saidd, "We are so sorry that we are unable to
o serve the me
eal at this time
e. The
turbulence is still ahead of
o us."
And then the
t storm brok ke. The omino ous cracks of thunder could be heard eve en above the roar of the en ngines.
Lightening lit up the darke d within moments that great plane
ening skies and p was like a cork tossed around
a on a ce
elestial
ocean. Onee moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of airr; the next, it drropped as if it were about to crash.
The man confessed
c that he shared the discomfort and
d fear of those around
a him.
As he lookked around the e plane, he could see that nearly all the pa assengers werre upset and alarmed.
a Somee were
he future seemed ominous an
praying. Th nd many were wondering
w if th
hey would make
e it through thee storm. And then, he
suddenly saw
s a girl to wh
hom the storm meant nothing g. She had tuccked her feet beneath
b her ass she sat on he
er seat
and was reeading a book. Everything within her small world
w was calm and orderly.
Sometimess she closed her eyes, then she s would read d again; then she
s would straighten her legss, but worry an nd fear
were not in
n her world. Wh hen the plane was
w being bufffeted by the terrrible storm, wh
hen it lurched this
t way and th
hat, as
it rose and
d fell with frigh
htening severitty, when all the adults were scared half to o death, that marvelous
m child was
completelyy composed and unafraid.
The man could
c hardly believe
b his eye
es. It was nott surprising theerefore, that when
w the planee finally reach
hed its
destination
n and all the pa
assengers weree hurrying to disembark, he lin
ngered to speaak to the girl wh
hom he had wa atched
for such a long time. Havving commenteed about the sto ne, he asked why she had not been
orm and behavvior of the plan
afraid. The
e sweet child re
eplied:
"Sir, my Da
ad is the pilot and
a he is taking
g me home."

Cros
ssing
g the Water
W r
Spirittual Sto
ory by Sri
S Ram
makrish
hna
A farmer's daughter duty
y was to carry fresh
f milk to cu
ustomers in va
arious villages had,
h one of whhom was a prie est. To
reach his house,
h the milk
kmaid had to cross
c a good-siized stream. People
P crossed I by a sort of ferry raft, for a small
fee.
One day th orship daily witth the offering to God of fressh milk, finding
he priest, who performed wo g it arrived verry late,
scolded thee poor woman. "What can I do?"
d she said, "I start out early from my hoouse, but I have to wait a long time
for the boa
atman to come."
Then the priest
p said (pretending to be serious),
s "Wha e even walked across the oce
at! People have ean by repeating the
name of God,
G and you ca his milkmaid took him very se
an't cross this little river?" Th eriously. From then on she brought
the priest'ss milk punctually every mornin ng. He became ut it and asked her how it wass that she was never
e curious abou
late anymo ore.
"I cross the a you told me to do, without waiting for the ferry."
e river repeating the name of the Lord," she replied, "just as
The priest didn't believe her, and askeed, "Can you show
s me this, how you crosss the river on foot?" So theyy went
together too the water an nd the milkmaid began to wa alk over it. Looking back, thhe woman saw w that the priesst had
started to follow
f her and was
w floundering in the water.
"Sir!" she cried,
c "You are uttering the na
ame of God, ye
et all the while you are holdin
ng up your cloth
hes from gettin
ng wet.
That is not trusting in God
d!"

 
 

Digg
ging a Welll
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A man wan nted to dig a well
w to water hiss farm. After dig
gging for some e time in a placce recommende
ed by water-divviners,
he found no water and go ot disgusted. He had dug onlyy about fifteen feet.
f
Along cam me another mann who laughed at him for digg ging there, and
d pointed to an
nother place. The
T farmer wen nt over
to that spo
ot and dug and dug, for aboutt twenty feet. Still
S no water, and
a very tired, he finally took the advice of an old
neighbor who
w assured him m there was wa ater at yet anotther place
After he ha
ad given up tha w came out and said, "Whe
at one too, his wife ere are your brrains? Does an nyone sink a we
ell that
a go deeper and deeper there!" Next dayy, rested the farrmer spent all day on one ho
way? Stay in one place and ole and
found abunndant water.

Do Not
N Questi
Q ion th
he Sea
arch
Spirittual Sto
ory by Sri
S Ram
makrish
hna
A man wass about the cro
oss a river, whe
en master Bibh
hishana came over, wrote a name
n on a leaf, tied it to the man’s
back, and said:
s
"Don’t be afraid.
a Your faitth will help you walk on the waters. But the minute
m e faith, you will drown."
you lose
The man trusted Bibhishhana, and bega t waters, witthout any difficculty. At a certain point, he had
an to walk on the h an
ming desire to know what his master
overwhelm m had writtten on the leaff tied to his bacck.
He took it and
a read what was written:
“Oh god Ra
ama, help this man to cross the river.”
“Is that all?
?” thought the man.
m “And who
o is this god Ra
ama, anyway?”
The mome
ent this doubt became lodged in his mind, he
e was submerg
ged and drowne
ed in the strong
g current

Drag
gonfly
y
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Once, in a little pond, in the
t muddy watter under the lily pads, there lived a little wa
ater beetle in a community off water
beetles. Th
hey lived a simple and comforrtable life in the
e pond with few
w disturbances and interruptioons.
Once in a while,
w sadness
s would come too the communiity when one off their fellow be
eetles would climb the stem of
o a lily
pad and woould never be seen
s again. Th
hey knew when
n this happened d; their friend was
w dead, gone e forever.
Then, one day, one little water beetle fe
elt an irresistiblle urge to climb
b up that stem. However, he was determine
ed that
he would not
n leave foreve er. He would coome back and tell his friends what he had fo ound at the top.
When he reached
r the top
p and climbed out of the wate er onto the surrface of the lilyy pad, he was sos tired, and th
he sun
felt so warrm, that he decided he mustt take a nap. As A he slept, his body change ed and when he woke up, he h had
turned into a beautiful blu nfly with broad wings and a slender
ue-tailed dragon s body de esigned for flyin
ng.
So, fly he did!
d And, as he w the beauty off a whole new world and a far superior way o life to what he
e soared he saw h had
never know wn existed.
Then he re emembered his
s beetle friendss and how theyy were thinking
g by now he was
w dead. He wanted
w to go back
b to
tell them, and
a explain to them that he was
w now more e alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled
f
rather than
n ended.
But, his ne
ew body would not go down in nto the water. He
H could not geet back to tell his
h friends the good news. Th
hen he
understoodd that their time
e would come, when they, tooo, would know what
w he now knew.
So, he raissed his wings and
a flew off into
o his joyous new
w life!

 
 

Drea
am
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
An old storry tells of a wom
man who dream ms every night that she is beiing chased, thrroughout a big haunted house e, by a
hulking moonster. Night affter night, the hideous thing ru
uns after her, its breath like accid on the backk of her neck...
It all seemss so real...
Finally one
e night, the dreeam begins ag
gain, but this tim
me the beast corners
c oor terrified woman, and just as it's
the po
about to tear her apart, th
he woman findss her voice and
d shrieks:
"What are you! Why are you e! What will you do to me!"
y chasing me
At that, the
e monster stop ession, puts itss hands on its hips and says,, "How
ps, straightens up, and with a puzzled expre
should I knnow? It's your dream."
d

Drow
wning
g Man
n
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
While out to
t sea, a large boat became shipwrecked
s an
nd there was only
o a single su
urvivor. This ma
an prayed and asked
God to savve his life. Soon
n thereafter, an
nother boat cam
me by and offered the man soome help.
"No thankss," he said. "I'm
m waiting for Go
od to save me.""
The men on
o the boat shrrugged their sh
houlders and coontinued. As th
he man becam
me more deeplyy concerned, another
boat came by. Again, the people aboard
d offered this man
m some help, and agai he politely
p decline. "I'm waiting fo
or God
to save me
e," he said agaiin.
After some an began to lose his faith, and soon after that he died. Upon reaching
e time, the ma g Heaven, he had a
chance to speak
s with God
d briefly.
y let me die? Why didn't you
"Why did you u answer my prayers?"
"Dummy, I sent you two boats!"
b
The Univerrse is always watching
w out fo
or the best inte
erests of our sp
piritual evolutio
on, even when we are too na arrowly
focused to see all the other opportunitie
es it presents uss. Sometimes, all that is need
ded is a change
e of perspectivve.

Exp
pect An
A Ans
swer
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
As a drougght continued for
f what seeme ed an eternity, a small commmunity of farmerrs was in a qua
andary as to what
w to
do. Rain was
w important to o keep their cro
ops healthy andd sustain the way
w of life of the
e townspeople..
As the prob
blem became more
m acute, a local pastor callled a prayer meeting
m to ask for
f rain.
Many peop ple arrived. The pastor greetted most of theem as they file
ed in. As he walked
w to the frront of the chu
urch to
officially be
egin the meetin ng he noticed most
m ere chatting accross the aisless and socializing with friends. When
people we
he reached d the front his thoughts were on
o quieting the
e attendee and starting the me eeting.
His eyes scanned the cro owd as he askked for quiet. He
H noticed an eleven
e year-oldd girl sitting quietly in the fron
nt row.
Her face was
w beaming with w excitementt. Next to her, poised and ready for use, wasw a bright red d umbrella. Th he little
girl's beautty and innocen
nce made the pastor
p smile ass he realized ho
ow much faith she possessed d. No one else in the
congregation had brought an umbrella.
o pray for rain, but the little girrl had come exxpecting God to
All came to o answer…

 
 

Foo
otstep
ps
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Deep in hiss slumber, one e night a man had a very reaal, yet surreal dream.
d He dreamt that he wa as walking along the
beach withh God. As he lo ooked up at the
e sky, he saw all
a the scenes ofo his life flash by
b along with tw
wo sets of foottprints:
one set forr himself, and another
a for God
d.
After all th
he scenes had d flashed befo ore him, he loooked back at those footprrints and noticced something
g quite
disturbing: At the most diffficult times in his
h life, he saw
w only one set of
o footprints.
This deeplyy troubled the man, so he turned and said to God: "You saids that if I folllowed you, the
en you would always
a
walk with me
m through thicck and thin. In looking back, I see that durin
ng the most pa ere is only one set of
ainful times the
footprints. Why
W did you le eave me when I needed you thet most?"
"I love you and would nev
ver leave. It wa
as during those
e times when yo
ou suffered the
e most that I ca
arried you."
Though thiis was originally y a religious pa
arable, it is also
o one of great spiritual
s depth even for the no
on-religious. Onne
need only replace
r "God" with any word they use, be it "Allah," "Unive ersal Connecte edness," "Consciousness," "H Higher
Self," or oth
hers, to see tha at we are not alone,
a and that there is an ene ergy that is alw
ways looking ouut for the best
interests off our spiritual evolution.
e

Frie
ends in the Dese
ert
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Two friends were walkingg through the desert.
d During some
s point of the
t journey, the ey had an arguument and one friend
e other one in the
slapped the t face. The one
o who got sla apped was hurrt, but without saying
s anything
g, wrote in the sand:
s
"Today myy best friend sla
apped me in the
e face."
They kept on walking, unntil they found an oasis, wherre they decidedd to take a batth. The one wh
ho had been slapped
got stuck in
n the mire and
d started drownning, but the friiend saved him
m. After he reco he near drowning, he
overed from th
wrote on a stone:
"Today myy best friend sav
ved my life."
The friend who had slapp
ped and saved
d his best friend asked him, "After
" I hurt yo
ou, you wrote in
n the sand and
d now,
you write on
o a stone, why
y?"
The friend replied, whenn someone hurrts us we shouuld write it dow
wn in sand, wh
here the windss of forgivenesss can
erase it awway. But, when someone doess something go ere no wind can ever
ood for us, we must engrave it in stone whe
erase it."

Frog
g and
d the Scorp
S pion
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
One day, a scorpion stoo
od on the side of d asked a frog to carry it to the other side.
o a stream and
'How do I know
k you won'tt sting me?' the
e frog asked. 'B
Because if I stin
ng you, I'll drow
wn,' the scorpio
on said.
The frog thhought about it and realized that the scorp
pion was right. So he put the e scorpion on his
h back and started
s
m. But midway across the strream, the scorp
ferrying him pion plunged its stinger into the frog's back.. As they both began
to drown, the frog gasped
d,'Why?'
The scorpion replied, 'Because it is my nature.'
Thanks to Ayaaki
A O. for sharing
s this sto
ory!

 
 

God
d As Mothe
M er
Spirittual Sto
ory by Sri
S Ram
makrish
hna
There are some temples s where God is worshipped d as Mother. In one of thesse, in the state e of Bengal, She
S is
represente
ed by a large stone
s image. The
T sculptor ha as carved in sttone his idea of
o the Mother ofo the Universe
e, and
many piouss people, findin
ng it attractive and
a inspiring, go
g there to payy their respects or make offerings.
One day an old monk wh ho used a cane e came into the
e temple. Appro
oaching the alttar he said, spe
eaking aloud to
o God,
"Mother, you are said to
o be God; tell me the truth: are you solid like stone — this image? Or O are you formmless,
indescribab
ble and imposs
sible to touch?""
"Take yourr cane," the mo onk heard a so
oft voice saying
g, "and strike my
m body on thee left side." He did and the caane hit
the stone with
w a clack. "N Now strike me from
f the other side," She said
d. When the ca
ane reached the e sculpture it passed
p
right throug
gh it as if it werre air.

Hold
d My Hand
d
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Once a littlle girl and her father were cro
ossing a bridge
e. The father was
w kind of sca
ared so he aske
ed his little dau
ughter,
"Sweethea art , please holdd my hand so that you don’ ™t fall into the river."
The little giirl said, "No, Da
ad. You hold my
m hand."
"What’s the difference?" asked the puzzle father.
"There’
™s a big difference," replied th
he little girl.
"If I hold yo
our hand and something
s happ
pens to me, chhances are thatt I may let yourr hand go. But if you hold myy hand,
I know for sure
s that no maatter what happ
pens, you will never
n let my ha
and go."
Special tha
anks to Sandee
ep B. for sharin
ng this spirituall story with us!

I Ca
an Sle
eep When
W T Wind
The W B
Blows
s
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Years ago a farmer owne ed land along the Atlantic se
eacoast. He co
onstantly adverrtised for hired hands. Most people
p
were relucctant to work on
o farms along the Atlantic. They
T dreaded the awful storrms that raged across the Attlantic,
wreaking havoc
h on the bu
uildings and cro
ops.
As the farm
mer interviewed
d applicants fo
or the job, he received
r a stea
ady stream of refusals.
r Finallly, a short, thin
n man,
well past middle
m age, app
proached the farmer.
f "Are yoou a good farm
m hand?" the faarmer asked him m. "Well, I cann sleep
when the wind
w blows," an
nswered the litttle man. Althou
ugh puzzled by this answer, th
he farmer, despperate for help, hired
him.
The little man
m worked well around the fa arm, busy from
m dawn to dusk,, and the farme er felt satisfied with the man'ss work.
Then one night
n the wind howled loudly in from offshorre. Jumping outt of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed
r
next door to
t the hired han
nd's sleeping quarters.
He shook the little man and
a yelled, "Get up! A storm m is coming! Tie things down before they blow
b away!" Th
he little
man rolled over in bed an
nd said firmly, "No
" sir. I told yo
ou, I can sleep when the wind
d blows."
Enraged byy the response
e, the farmer was
w tempted to o fire him on the spot. Instead
d, he hurried outside
o to prepa
are for
ment, he discovvered that all of the haystackss had been covvered with tarpaulins.
the storm. To his amazem
The cows were in the ba arn, the chickeens were in thee coops, and the
t e barred. The shutters were tightly
doors were
secured. Everything
E was s tied down. Nothing
N could blow away. Th he farmer then
n understood what
w his hired
d hand
meant, so he returned to his bed to also
o sleep while th
he wind blew

 
 

Integrity and Marbl

M es
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A boy and a girl were pla aying together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl
g had some sweets
s with he
er. The
boy told the
e girl that he will
w give her all his
h marbles in exchange
e for her
h sweets. The e girl agreed.
The boy ke
ept the biggestt and the most beautiful marb
ble aside and gave
g the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her
sweets as she had promised.
That night,, the girl slept peacefully. Bu
ut the boy couuldn't sleep ass he kept wond
dering if the girl had hidden some
sweets from
m him the way he had hidden n his best marb
ble.
Special tha
anks to Dr. C P Giri Shankar for
f sharing thiss spiritual story!!

Is Man
M Frree
Spirittual Sto
ory by Osho
O
A man commes to a maste er to ask how much man is independent, free.
f Is he tota
ally free, or is there
t a limitation? Is
there some
ething like fate,, kismet, destin
ny, a God who makes a limitation beyond wh hich you canno ot be free?
The mysticc answered in his
h own way - not
n logically butt existentially. He
H said, "Stand
d up."
The man must
m have felt this was a stupid kind of answ
wer, "I am askin estion and he is asking me to
ng a simple que o stand
up." But he
e said, "Let us see
s what happens." He stood d. And the mysttic said,
"Now, raise
e one of your le
egs up."
The man, by this time must
m have bee en thinking he had come to a madman; whatw has this to do with freedom,
independence? But now that he has co ome... and therre must have been
b a crowd of
o disciples, an
nd the mystic was
w so
respected; not to follow him would be disrespectful, and there wass no harm. So o he lifted one of his legs fro
om the
earth, so one foot was in the air and he was standing on
o one foot.
he master said, "That's perfecctly good. Just one thing more
And then th e. Now take the other foot up
p also."
"That is im
mpossible!" the e man said, "Y
You are asking
g something im ave taken my right foot up. Now I
mpossible. I ha
cannot takee my left foot up."
u
The maste er said, "But yo
ou were free. In the beginnin ng you could have taken the left foot up. There was no binding
b
order. You were complete ely free to choo
ose whether to oot up or the right foot up. I had
o take the left fo h not said an
nything
about it; yo
ou just decided. You took the right foot up.
In your verry decision, you
u made it impo
ossible for the le
eft foot to be liffted up. Don't bother
b about fa
ate kismet, God
d. Just
think of sim
mple things."

Killiing Trruth
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
One day Mara,
M who is the
e ancient Budd
dhist god of ign ng through the villages of India with
norance and evvil, was travellin
his attenda
ants. Along the e way, he noticced a man doing a walking meditation.
m The w lit up in wonder.
e man's face was
Apparentlyy, the man had just discovered d something on
n the ground in
n front of him.
Mara's atteendants, noticin
ng the glow em
manating from the man, asked
d Mara what it was h discovered. Mara
w the man had
replied, "He
e has discoverred a piece of truth."
"But evil on
ne!" exclaimed one of his ento
ourage, "Doesn
n't this bother you
y when some
eone finds a piece of the truth
h?"
"No," said Mara. "I am no
ot troubled in th
he least."
"But why not?"insisted his
s attendants.
"Because,"" replied Mara, chuckling, "Rig
ght after they discover
d some truth, they usually make a be
elief out of it."

 
 

Life as a Jewe
el
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
One afternnoon Guru Nan nak and his company were re esting on the banks
b
of the Gan nges at Patna. Mardana was idly inspecting a stone he e had
picked up along the road d, thinking of th
he vast throngs who had com me to
hear the Guru.
G "Master," said Mardana, "you teach a way for every e
person to find
f liberation. But many of thhose who listen
n still seem to spend
s
much of thheir time in co onflict, and in seeking
s out exxcitement and other
idle pursuitts. Why do they y waste away their
t lives so?"
"Most peoople don't reco ognize its valuue," replied th
he Guru, "alth
hough
human life is the dearest treasure on thiis earth."
"Surly everryone can see the value of life
e," said Mardan
na.
"No," said Nanak. "Each man places his h own value on o things acco ording
to what hee thinks. A diffeerent man with
h different knowledge will pla ace a
different value.
v That stoone you found in the dirt will make a good
example. Take
T it to the marketplace
m and
d see what youu can get for it.""
Puzzled, Mardana
M took the
t stone to th
he marketplacee and at a stalll that
sold sweetts asked what the vendor would trade for it. The man laugghed.
"Go away, you're wasting
g my time."
He next trie
ed a produce seller.
s "I have paying
p customeers to wait on,"" said
the grocer. "I'll give you an
a onion for it ju
ust to get you out
o of here."
Mardana tried several morem shops witth no better re esponse. Finallly he
came to the shop of Salis eler. Salis Raj'ss eyes opened wide
s Raj, the jewe
when he sa aw the stone. "I'm
" sorry," he said, "I don't have
h enough money
m
to buy you ur gem. But I will
w give you a hundred rupee es if you will le
et me
look at it a while longer."
Mardana hurried
h back to the Guru to tell him what had
d happened.
"See," said d Guru Nanak k, "how when we are ignorant we mista ake a
valuable gem for a worthless stone. Iff someone had d told you its value
v
before you u knew what it was, you wou uld have thought they were crazy.
c
Such a jew wel is human liffe, and whateve
er you've trade
ed for it, that is what
is yours."

 
 

Life Explained
d
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A boat doccked in a tiny Mexican
M village
e. An American
n tourist compllimented the Mexican
M fisherm
man on the qua
ality of
his fish and
d asked how lo
ong it took him to
t catch them.
"Not very lo
ong," answered
d the Mexican.
w didn't you stay out longer and catch mo
"But then, why ore?" asked the
e American.
The Mexica
an explained th
hat his small ca
atch was sufficient to meet hiss needs and th
hose of his family.
ut what do you do with the resst of your time?
The Americcan asked, "Bu ?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play
p with my ch he evenings, I go into the village to
hildren, and takke a siesta with my wife. In th
see my frieends, have a fe ew drinks, play the guitar, and
d sing a few sonngs. I have a fu
ull life."
The Americcan interrupted
d, "I have an MBA
M from Harvaard and I can help
h you! You should
s start byy fishing longerr every
day. You can
c then sell thee extra fish you
u catch. With th
he extra revenu
ue, you can buy a bigger boatt."
"And after that?" asked th
he Mexican.
"With the extra
e money the larger boat will
w bring, you can
c buy a seco ond one and a third one and so on until you
u have
an entire fleet
f of trawlerrs. Instead of selling your fissh to a middle
e man, you caan then negotiate directly wiith the
processingg plants and maybe
m even opeen your own plant.
p You can then leave this little village and
a move to Mexico
M
City, Los Angeles,
A en New York Ciity! From there you can directt your huge new
or eve w enterprise."
"How long would that take
e?" asked the Mexican.
M
"Twenty, perhaps twenty--five years," rep
plied the Amerrican.
"And after that?"
"Afterwardss? Well my friend, that's when it gets reallly interesting,"" answered the
e American, la
aughing. "When
n your
business gets
g really big, you
y can start buying
b and selliing stocks and make millions!!"
"Millions? Really?
R And aftter that?" asked the Mexican..
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in
n a tiny village near the coasst, sleep late, play
p with your children,
c catch a few
fish, take a siesta with yo
our wife and spe end your eveniings drinking and enjoying yo our friends."

Liza
ards Have
H D
Done It
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
In Japan, a man breaks s open the wa all to renovate his house. Ja apanese houses normally have a hollow space
between th he wooden wa alls, and when when tearing down the wallls, he found that there was a lizard stuckk there
because a nail from outs side had been hammered
h into
o one of its fee
et. The man seees this, feels pity,
p and at the
e same
time is curiious because upon
u checking the nail he realized it had bee
en there since the house wass built ten yearss ago.
What happ
pened?
The lizard had survived in that position
n for ten yearss! In a dark wa
all partition for 10 years witho
out moving, the
e man
found this to be impossiible and mind boggling. The en he wondere ed how this lizard survived fo or ten years without
w
moving a single
s step--since its foot was nailed!
So the man n stopped his work
w and obseerved the lizard
d, what it had been
b doing, and d what and how
w it has been eating.
e
Later, not knowing
k from where
w it came, appeared anotther lizard... with food in its mouth.
m

 
 

Mas
sks
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Don't be fo
ooled by the faace I wear, for I wear a thousand masks, And none of them are me. Don't be foole
ed, for
goodness sake,
s don't be fooled.
I give you the impression n that I'm securre, that confide
ence is my namme and coolness is my game e, And that I ne
eed no
one. But doon't believe mee. Beneath dwe ells the real mee in confusion, in aloneness, in fear. That's why I create a mask
to hide beh
hind, to shield me
m from the gla ance that know ws.
But such a glance is prec
cisely my salva b acceptance, if it's followed by love. It's th
ation. That is, iff it's followed by he only
thing that can
c liberate mee from my own n self-built priso
on walls. I'm affraid that deep
p down I'm noth hing and that I''m just
no good, And
A that you will reject me.
And so beegins the paradde of masks. I idly chatter to o you. I tell you everything that's really nothing and noth hing of
at's crying withiin me. Please listen carefully and try to hea
what's everything, of wha ar what I'm not saying. I'd rea
ally like
to be genuine and spontaaneous, and me e. But you've got
g to help me. You've got to hold
h out your hand.
h
Each time you're kind annd gentle, and encouraging, Each time you u try to undersstand because you really carre, my
heart begins to grow wings,
w feeble wings,
w but win
ngs. With yourr sensitivity an nd sympathy, and your pow wer of
understand
ding, you alone
e can release me
m from my sha allow world of uncertainty.
u
It will not be easy for yoou. The nearer you approacch me, the blinnder I may strike back. But I'm told that Love
L is
stronger thhan strong walls, And in this lies my only hope.
h Please try to beat dow
wn these walls with firm hand
ds, but
gentle hands, for a child is very sensitive.
Who am I, you wonder...
I am every man you meett. I am every woman
w that you meet.
And I am also
a you.

Not A On
ne
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Little Chad
d was a shy, quiet
q young man.
m One day he came hom me and told hiss mother that he'd like to makem a
valentine for
f everyone in n his class. Heer heart sank. She thought, "I wish he wo ouldn't do thatt!" because shhe had
watched thhe children when they walked d home from school.
s Her Ch
had was alwayys behind them m. They laughe ed and
hung on too each other an
nd talked to eacch other. But Chad
C was neve
er included. Neevertheless, shee decided she would
go along with
w her son. So she purchassed the paper and a glue and crayons.
c For th
hree weeks, nig ght after night, Chad
painstaking
gly made 35 vaalentines.
Valentine'ss Day dawned, and Chad wass beside himse elf with excitem
ment. He carefuully stacked theem up, put them in a
bag, and bolted out the door. His mothe er decided to ba
ake him his favvorite cookies and
a serve them m nice and warm m with
a cool glasss of milk when n he came hom me from school. She just knew w he would be disappointed
d and maybe that would
urt her to think that he wouldn
ease the pain a little. It hu n't get many vaalentines--maybbe none at all.
That aftern
noon she had the t cookies and milk on the table.
t When sh he heard the children outside e, she looked out
o the
window. Sure enough, th here they came e, laughing and having the best
b time. And as always, the ere was Chad in the
rear. He waalked a little faster than usual. She fully exp
pected him to burst
b into tears as soon as he
e got inside. Hiss arms
were emptyy, she noticed, and when the door opened she s choked bacck the tears.
"Mommy has some cookiies and milk forr you," she said
d.
But he hard
dly heard her words.
w He just marched right on by, his face
e aglow, and all he could say was: "Not a on
ne, Not
a one."
Her heart sank.
s
And then he
h added, "I did
dn't forget a one
e, not a single one!"

 
 

On The
T Other
O Side
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A sick man
n turned to his doctor, as he was leaving th he room after paying
p a visit, and
a said, "Docctor, am afraid to die.
Tell me wh
hat lies on the other
o side." Verry quietly the doctor said, "I don't know." "Yo ou don't know?
?" the man said
d.
"You, a Ch
hristian man, do
o not know wha
at is on the other side?"
t handle of the door, on the other side off which came a sound of scra
The doctorr was holding the atching and wh
hining.
As he openned the door, a dog sprang in
nto the room an
nd leaped on him wit an eage
er show of gladn
ness.
Turning to the patient, the
e doctor said, "Did you notice
e my dog? He''s never been in
i this room be
efore. He didn'tt know
what was inside. He knew w nothing exceept that his masster was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without
w
fear."
"I know littlle of what is on
n the other side
e of death," the
e doctor contin
nued, "but I do know one thing: I know my Master
M
is there, an
nd that is enoug t door openss, I shall pass through with no
gh. And when the o fear, but with gladness."

Para
able of
o the
e Spoo
ons
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A holy man n was having a conversation with the Lord one
o day and said, "Lord, I wo
ould like to kno
ow what Heave
en and
Hell are like
e. "The Lord le
ed the holy man
n to two doors.
He opened d one of the dooors and the holy
h man looke
ed in. In the miiddle of the roo
om was a large
e round table. In the
middle of th
he table was a large pot of stew which smellled delicious and
a made the holy
h man's mouuth water.
The people e sitting around d the table were thin and sicckly. They appe eared to be fammished. They were
w holding spoons
s
with very lo
ong handles an nd each found it possible to reach
r into the pot of stew and nful, but because the
d take a spoon
handle wass longer than their arms, theyy could not get the spoons ba ack into their mouths.
m The holy man shudde ered at
the sight off their misery and
a suffering. The
T Lord said, "You" have seen Hell."
They went to the next roo
om and opened d the door. It was e was the large round
w exactly the same as the fiirst one. There
table with the
t large pot of
o stew which made
m the holy man's mouth water. The peo ople were equipped with the same
ple were well nourished and plump,
long-handled spoons, butt here the peop p laughing
g and talking.
The holy man
m said, "I do
on't understand e" said the Lorrd, "it requires but one skill. You see, theyy have
d." "It is simple
learned to feed each otheer. While the grreedy think onlyy of themselve
es."

Rea
al Mea
aning of Pe
eace
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
There oncee was a king who
w offered a prize
p to the artisst who would paint
p the best picture
p of peacce. Many artistss tried.
The king lo
ooked at all the
e pictures.
But there were
w only two he really liked, and he had to t choose betw ween them. On
ne picture was of a calm lake e. The
lake was a perfect mirroor for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhea ad was a blue sky with fluffyy white
clouds. All who saw this picture
p thoughtt that it was a perfect
p picture of
o peace.
The other picture
p had mo ountains, too. But
B these were rugged and ba are. Above was an angry skyy, from which ra
ain fell
and in whicch lightning pla
ayed. Down the e side of the mountain
m tumble
ed a foaming waterfall.
w This did
d not look pe
eaceful
at all.
But when the
t king looked d closely, he sa
aw behind the waterfall
w a tiny bush growing in a crack in th
he rock. In the bush
b a
mother birdd had built her nest. There, in the midst of
o the rush of angry
a water, sa the mother bird
b on her ne est - in
perfect pea
ace.
The king ch
hose the secon
nd picture.

 
 

Selling th
he Be
earskin
Spirittual Sto
ory by James
J Fadima
an and Robertt
Frageer
Ali and Ha
asan went out bear hunting. For four dayss they saw notthing. Each night they slept in a nearby village, v
art of the bear's skin against the cost of the
pledging pa eir lodging. Onn the fifth day a huge bear ap
ppeared, and AliA said
t his friend, "I don't mind con
nervously to nfessing that I'm
m afraid to take
e this bear." Haasan laughed, "Just
" leave it to
o me."
So Ali scra
ambled like lig
ghtning up the nearest tree, and Hasan sttood with his gun g ady. The bear came
at the rea
lumbering on, and Hasan n began to gro
ow more and more
m scared. Att length he raissed his gun to his shoulder, but by
now he waas trembling so much that, beffore he could ta
ake proper aim
m, his gun wentt off and missedd the target.
Hasan, rem membering that bears never touch
t a dead body,
b threw himmself flat and held
h his breath. The bear cam
me up,
sniffed all around
a him and
d finally made off. Ali, who ha
ad been watching the whole affair
a from his trree, now came
e down
and, congrratulating Hasa
an on his escappe asked him, "What
" did the bear
b whisper in your year?"
"Don't sell the bearskin be
efore you have
e caught the be
ear."

Sha
aring Happ
H iness
s
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied th he same hospital room. One man was allow wed to sit up in
n his bed for an hour
noon to help drrain the fluid fro
each aftern om his lungs. His
H bed was ne ext to the room's only windoww. The other ma an had
to spend all
a his time flat on his back. TheT men talked for hours on end. e They spokke of their wive
es and familiess, their
homes, theeir jobs, their in
nvolvement in th
he military servvice, where the
ey had been onn vacation.
Every afterrnoon when th
he man in the bed
b by the win ndow could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his
roommate all the things he
h could see outside the winddow. The man in the other be ed began to livve for those one
e hour
here his world would
periods wh w be broad
dened and enlivvened by all the
e activity and color
c of the worrld outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Du ucks and swan ns played on th he water while children sailed
d their
model boats. Young love ers walked arm
m in arm amidstt flowers of eve ery color and a fine view of the
t city skylinee could
be seen in the distance. As
A the man byy the window de escribed all this in exquisite detail,
d the man
n on the other side
s of
the room would
w close his eyes and imag
gine the picture
esque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window w describ
bed a parade passing
p by. Alth
hough the othe er man couldn't hear
the band - he could see itt in his mind's eye
e as the gentleman by the window
w portrayyed it with desccriptive words.
Days and weeks
w passed.
One morniing, the day nuurse arrived too bring water fo he lifeless body of the man by the
or their baths, only to find th
window, who had died pe eacefully in his sleep. She wa
as saddened and called the hospital
h attenda
ants to take the
e body
away. As soon
s as it seem
med appropriatte, the other man
m asked if he e could be movved next to the e window. The nurse
was happyy to make the switch, and afteer making sure he was comforrtable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he prop
pped himself up on one elbo ow to take his first
f look at the
e real world ou
utside He strained to
slowly turn
n to look out the window besiide the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man n asked the nurse what couldd have
compelled his deceased d roommate who
w had descrribed such wo onderful thingss outside this window. The nurse
responded that the man wasw blind and could
c not even see the wall.
She said, "Perhaps
" he jus
st wanted to en
ncourage you.""

 
 

Sho
ould He
H Bitte Me
Spirittual Sto
ory by Roger
R D Abra
D. ahams
One time a large stone fe ell upon Snake and covered her
h so that she could not rise. A white man, it is said, came e upon
her and lifted the stone, but
b when he ha ad done so, she wanted to bitte him. The Wh hite Man said, "Stop! Let us first
f go
to someone wise." They wentw to Hyena
a, and the White
e Man asked him,
h "Is it right that Snake shoould want to bite me,
even thoug gh I helped herr so much?"
Hyena (wh
ho was looking for his own sh hare of the White Man's bodyy) said, "If you were bitten, what would it ma atter?"
So Snake thought
t that seettled it, but the
e White Man saaid again, "Wait a little, and le er wise people, that I
et us go to othe
may hear whether
w this is right." They we ent and met Ja
ackal, and the White
W Man put the same quesstion to him.
Jackal repllied, "I don't be b so covered by a stone that she could nott rise. Unless I saw it
elieve that Snakke could ever be
with my twwo eyes, I wou uldn't believe itt. Take me to the place whe
ere you say it happened so I can see for myself
m
whether it can
c possibly be e true."
They went together to tha at place, and Jackal
J said, "Snnake, lie down, and let yoursself be covered d." Snake did so, and
the White man covered her h with the sto one; and although she tried with
w all her strength Snake couldn't
c get up. Then
the White Man
M wanted to o let Snake go again,
a but Jackkal stopped him
m saying, "Don e. She wanted to bite
n't life the stone
you, thereffore, let her gett up and lift it herself."
Then they both went awa
ay and left Snakke there, just as
a before.

Ston
ne an
nd the
e Flow
wer
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
"You have hardened", sa aid the flower, bending
b her pe
etals downward d toward the half stone at he
er roots. "These
e rains
should havve softened you, made you u more fertile and receptive e to the seedss of the fields; but no. You u have
accumulateed minerals an nd have becom me more silent and full of calcium. Why do you stay here e? Why do you resist
the brook that
t gives us water?"
The stone said nothing.
A number of clouds pass sed by, the sun set and the night arrived with
w an immen nse bronze-colooured freckled moon
with acne scars
s upon herr worn face and
d in this manne
er reflected dow
wn upon the silent stone which still had nott fallen
asleep. Th
he flower, by now,
n had tucked-in her peta als and slept profoundly,
p and
d at this time the stone beg gan to
answer:
e because you
"I stay here ur roots have made
m me yourss. I stay here because
b it is no
o longer about my feeling the
e earth
rather becaause I have beecome part of that
t which funcctions as a suppport of your sttem which resiists the wind and the
rain. Everyything changess, my sweet floower", said the stone, "but I stay
s here because love is tha at microscopic space
between yo our feet and myy salted skin. You
Y would onlyy be able to fee el it if destiny weere ever to sep
parate the two of
o us."
The moon followed the fa ade of the stars. Dawn gave a yawn as the
e sun began to burn its horizo
on on the lower lip of
the mouth of a new day. The flower aw woke and extended her beau Good morning", she said, "I dreamt
utiful petals. "G d
that you we m How foolish of me, don't you
ere singing to me. y think?"
The stone said nothing.

 
 

Stru
uggle
Spirittual Sto
ory by
Unknnown
A man found a cocoon of o a butterfly. HeH sat and wattched
the butterfly for several hours as it strruggled to forcce its
body through the little holle at the end.
Eventually,, the butterfly y stopped ma aking progresss. It
appeared as a if it had gottten as far as itt could and it could
c
go no farth
her. The man decided to help the butterfly, so s he
took a pairr of scissors an
nd snipped off thet remaining bit of
the cocoonn. The butterfly then emerged d easily, but it had
h a
swollen body and small, shriveled
s wingss.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he
expected that,
t at any moment,
m the wiings would enlarge
and expan t support the body, which would
nd to be able to w
contract in time.
Neither happened! In factt, the butterfly spent the rest of its
life crawlin
ng around withh a swollen bodyb and shrivveled
wings. It ne
ever was able to
t fly.
What the man in his kindness an nd haste did not
understand d was that the t restricting cocoon and the
struggle reequired for thee butterfly to get through the e tiny
opening we ere nature's waay of forcing flu
uid from the bo
ody of
the butterffly into its wing
gs so that it would
w be readdy for
flight once it achieved its freedom from thet cocoon.
Sometimess struggles are w need in our life.
e exactly what we
If nature allowed
a us to go through our
o life withoutt any
obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as sttrong
as what wee could have be een And we coould never fly...

Ten Millio
on Do
ollars
Spirittual Sto
ory by
Unknnown
A reporter was attemptin uman interest story
ng to get a hu
out of a ve
ery, very old man in a govern
nment-run hom
me for
the aged.
"Grandpa,"" said the youn ng reporter, "ho
ow would you feel
f if
you suddenly got a letterr telling you tha
at a distant rellative
had left you
u ten million do
ollars?"
"Son," said
d the old man slowly,
s "I would
d still be ninetyy-five
years old, wouldn't
w I?"

 
 

That's No
ot My Prob
blem
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A mouse loooked through a crack in the wall
w to see the farmer and hiss
wife openin
ng a package; wha food migh ht it contain?
He was aghast to discove
er that it was a mouse trap!
Retreating to the farmy
yard, the mou use proclaimedd the warningg,
"There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the
e
house."
en clucked and
The chicke d scratched, ra
aised her head and said, "Mrr.
Mouse, I can
c tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no
o
consequennce to me; I can
nnot be bothereed by it."
The mousee turned to the pig and told him,
h "There is a mouse trap in
n
the house."
"I am so vvery sorry Mr. Mouse," symp pathized the pig
g, "but there iss
nothing I can
c do about iti but pray; be
e assured that you are in myy
prayers."
The mousee turned to the cow, who repllied, "Like wow
w, Mr. Mouse, a
mouse trap
p; am I in grave
e danger, Duh?
?"
So the mo ouse returned to the house, head down and
a dejected to
o
face the farmer's mouse trap
t alone.
That very night a sound was heard th hroughout the house, like the e
sound of a mouse trap ca
atching its preyy. The farmer'ss wife rushed to
o
see what was
w caught.
In the darrkness, she didd not see tha
at it was a venomous snake
e
whose tail the trap had ca
aught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmerr rushed her to the hospital.
She returnned home with a fever. Now everyone kno ows you treat a
fever with fresh chicken soup, so the faarmer took hiss hatchet to the
e
farmyard fo
or the soup's main
m ingredient..
His wife's sickness
s contin
nued so that frriends and neig
ghbors came to
o
sit with herr around the clo
ock. To feed th
hem, the farmer butchered the
e
pig.
The farmer's wife did no ot get well, in fact, she died, and so manyy
people cam
me for her fune eral the farmer had the cow slaughtered too
provide me
eat for all of the
em to eat.
So the nexxt time you he ear that someo
one is facing a problem andd
think that it does not con
ncern you, rem
member that whhen the least of
o
us is threattened, we are all
a at risk.
Thanks to Dr. C P Giri Sh
hankar for sharring this story!

 
 

The 100th
h Mon
nkey
Spirittual Sto
ory by Ken
K Keeyes Jr..
The Japannese monkey, Macaca
M fuscatta, had been observed
o in the
e wild for a perriod of over 30
0years. In
1952, on the island of Koshima,
K scienttists were provviding monkeyss with sweet potatoes
p droppped in the
sand. The monkey liked the
t taste of the raw sweet pottatoes, but theyy found the dirtt unpleasant.
An 18-mon nth-old female named Imo fo ound she coulld solve the prroblem by wasshing the pota
atoes in a
nearby streeam. She taug ght this trick to H playmatess also learned this new way and they
o her mother. Her
taught their mothers too.
This culturral innovation was
w gradually picked up by various monke eys before the e eyes of the scientists.
s
Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys
m learn
ned to wash thee sandy sweet potatoes to make them
more palattable. Only the adults who immitated their children learned this social imp
provement. Othher adults
kept eating
g the dirty sweeet potatoes.
Then some ething startling took place. In the autumn off 1958, a certa
ain number of Koshima
K monkkeys were
washing sw weet potatoes — the exact number
n is not known.
k Let us suppose that when the sun rose one
morning thhere were 99 monkeys
m on Kooshima Island who
w had learne ed to wash the
eir sweet potato
oes. Let's
further sup
ppose that laterr that morning, the hundredth monkey learneed to wash potatoes.
THEN IT HAPPENED!
H
By that eve
ening almost everyone in the tribe was wasshing sweet potatoes before eating
e them. The added
energy of this
t hundredth monkey someh how created ann ideological brreakthrough!
But notice: A most surprising thing ob
bserved by the
ese scientists was
w that the habit
h of washing sweet
hen jumped ov
potatoes th ver the sea...C
Colonies of mo
onkeys on othe er islands andd the mainland d troop of
monkeys ata Takasakiyamma began wasshing their sweeet potatoes. Thus,
T when a certain critica
al number
achieves an
a awareness, this
t new awareeness may be communicated
c from mind to mind.
m
This story was
w shared by
y CG Walters, author
a of

The Barb
ber Sh
hop
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A man wen nt to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimm med. As the ba
arber began to work, they began to
have a goood conversation and talked about
a so many things and various subjects.. When they evventually touchhed on
the subjectt of God, the ba
arber said: "I do
on't believe tha
at God exists."
"Why do yo
ou say that?" asked
a the custo
omer.
"Well, you just have to go
o out in the street to realize that
t God doesn
n't exist. Tell me,
m if God existts, would there be so
many sick people? Would there be aba andoned childrren? If God exiisted, there wo ould be neitherr suffering nor pain. I
can't imagine a loving Good who would allow
a all of thesse things."
The custom mer thought fo or a moment, but
b didn't respond because he didn't wantt to start an arrgument. The barber b
finished hiss job and the customer left the shop. Just affter he left the barbershop, he
e saw a man inn the street with
h long,
stringy, dirtty hair and an untrimmed bea ard. He lookedd dirty and unke empt. The custtomer turned back
b and entered the
barber sho op again and he e said to the ba
arber: "You kno
ow what? Barbers do not exisst."
"How can you
y say that?" asked the surp
prised barber.
"I am here,, and I am a ba
arber. And I jusst worked on yo
ou!"
"No!" the customer
c exclaimed. "Barberss don't exist be d there would be no people with dirty lon
ecause if they did, ng hair
and untrimmed beards, like that man ou
utside.
"Ah, but ba
arbers DO existt! That's what happens
h when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed
a the customer. "That'ss the point! Go
od, too, DOES exist!
e Because
e people do nott look to God fo
or help
is why therre's so much paain and sufferin
ng in the world."

 
 

The Battlle Witthin

Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
An old Che
erokee describe
es an experien
nce going on insside himself....
"It is a terrrible fight and iti is between tw wo wolves. On ne is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regre
et, greed, arrog
gance,
self-pity, gu es, false pride, superiority, and
uilt, resentment, inferiority, lie d ego.
The other is
i good - he is joy,
j nity, humility, kindness, benevvolence, empatthy, generosity, truth,
peace, lovve, hope, seren
compassioon, and faith. Th i going on inside you - and
his same fight is
inside everry other person
n, too."
The grandsson thought ab
bout it for a min
nute and then asked
a his grand
dfather: "Which
h wolf will win?""
The old Ch
herokee simply replied, "The one
o you feed."

The Blind
d Bus
s Pass
senge
er
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
The passe engers on the bus
b watched sympathetically
s y as the attracttive young wom man with the white
w cane mad de her
way carefuully up the stepss. She paid the
e driver, and ussing her hands to feel the locaation of the sea
ats, walked dow wn the
aisle and fo
ound the seat he'd told her was
w empty. The en she settled in,
i placed her briefcase
b on heer lap and resteed her
cane againnst her leg. It had
h been a yea ar since Susann, thirty-four, became blind. Due
D to a mediccal misdiagnossis she
had been rendered
r sightless, and she was
w suddenly th hrown into a wo orld of darknesss, anger, frustration and self--pity.
Once a fierrcely independ dent woman, Susan now felt condemned
c byy this terrible tw
wist of fate to become
b a powe erless,
helpless buurden on every yone around heer. "How could this have happpened to me?" she would plea ad, her heart knotted
k
with anger. But no matte er how much she cried or ran nted or prayed, she knew the e painful truth: her sight was never
eturn. A cloud of
going to re o depression hung
h over Susa
an's once optim
mistic spirit. Jusst getting throuugh each day was
w an
exercise in
n frustration and
d exhaustion.
And all shee had to cling to was her hu usband Mark. Mark
M was an Air
A Force office ed Susan with all his
er and he love
heart. Whe en she first los
st her sight, he
e watched her sink into despaair and was de etermined to help his wife ga
ain the
strength annd confidence she needed to o become indep pendent again. Mark's militarry background had trained him
m well
to deal with
h sensitive situations, and yett he knew this was
w the most difficult
d battle he would ever fa
ace.
Finally, Susan felt ready to return to he er job, but howw would she geet there? She used
u to take the bus, but wa as now
too frighten
ned to get around the city byy herself. Markk volunteered to t drive her to work each da ay, even though they
worked at opposite
o ends of the city. At first,
f orted Susan and fulfilled Markk's need to prottect his sightlesss wife
this comfo
who was so insecure abo out performing thet slightest ta ask.
Soon, how wever, Mark rea alized that this arrangement
a w
wasn't working - it was hectic, and costly. Suusan is going to
o have
to start taking the bus aga ain, he admitteed to himself. But
B just the thouught of mention ning it to her made
m him cringee. She
was still so
o fragile, so ang
gry. How would d she react?
Just as Ma ark predicted, Susan
S was horrified at the id
dea of taking th
he bus again. "I'm blind!" she
e responded bitterly.
b
"How am I supposed to know k where I'm
m going? I feel like you're abbandoning me." Mark's heart broke to hearr these
words, but he knew whatt had to be don ne. He promise ed Susan that each
e morning and evening he would ride thhe bus
with her, fo
or as long as itt took, until she
e got the hangg of it. And thatt is exactly what happened. For
F two solid weeks,
w
Mark, milita
ary uniform and d all, accompanied Susan to and from workk each day. He taught her how w to rely on herr other
senses esp pecially her hea
aring, to determ mine where she e was and how w to adapt to heer new environm
ment.
He helped her befriend thhe bus drivers who
w could watcch out for her anda save her a seat. He made her laugh, evven on
those not-sso-good days when she wou uld trip exiting the bus, or drop her briefca ase. Each morrning they mad de the
journey tog
gether, and Mark would take e a cab back to his office. Although
A this routine
r was evven more costly and
exhaustingg than the previous one, Markk knew it was only
o a matter off time before Susan
S would be
e able to ride th
he bus
on her ownn. He believed in her, in the Susan he use ed to know befoore she'd lost her sight, who wasn't afraid of any
challenge and
a who would d never, ever quuit.

 
 

Finally, Susan decided th

hat she was reeady to try the trip on her ow
wn. Monday mo orning arrived, and before sh
he left,
she threw her
h arms aroun nd Mark, her te
emporary bus riding companio on, her husban
nd, and her besst friend.
Her eyes filled
f with tearss of gratitude for
f his loyalty, his patience and
a his love. She
S said goodb
bye, and for th
he first
time, they went
w their sepa arate ways. Moonday, Tuesda ay, Wednesdayy, Thursday. Ea ach day on herr own went perrfectly,
and Susan n had never feltt better. She wa
as doing it! She
e was going to work all by herself!
On Friday morning, Susa an took the buss as usual. As she
s was paying g for her fare to
o exit the bus, the
t driver said,, "Boy,
I sure envyy you." Susan wasn't
w sure if the driver was speaking
s to he
er or not. After all
a who on eartth would ever envy
e a
blind woma an who had strruggled just to find the couragge to live the past
p year? Curiious she asked d the driver, "W
Why do
you say that you envy me?"
m The driverr responded, "IIt must feel so good to be ta aken care of annd protected likke you
are." Susan had no idea what
w the driverr was talking ab
bout, and asked again, "Whatt do you mean? ?"
The driver answered, "Yoou know, everyy morning for th he past week, a fine looking gentleman
g in a military uniforrm has
been standding across the
e corner watchhing you when you get off the e bus. He makes sure you crross the street safely
and he wa atches you until you enter you ng. Then he bllows you a kiss, and gives you a little salutte and
ur office buildin
walks away. You are one e lucky lady." Tears of happiness poured downd Susan's cheeks. For although
a she co ouldn't
physically see
s him, she had always felt Mark's presencce. She was lucky, so lucky, forf he had giveen her a gift moore
powerful th
han sight, a giftt she didn't nee
ed to see to be
elieve - the gift of love that ca
an bring light where
w there had
d been
darkness.

The Hom
meless
s Man
n
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
It was a cold winter’s daay that Sundayy. The parking g lot to the church was filling
g up
quickly. I noticed
n as I go ar that fellow church memberrs were whispe
ot out of my ca ering
among the emselves as they walked to thhe church. As I got closer, I saw a man lea aned
up against the wall outsid H was almostt lying down ass if he was asleep.
de the church. He
He had on n a long trench h coat that wass almost in shrreds, and a ha at topped his head,
h
pulled dowwn so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that loo oked 30 years old,
too small fo
or his feet, with
h holes all overr them. His toess stuck out.
I assumed this man was homeless and asleep, so I walked
w on by th
hrough the dooors of
the church. We all gatherred for fellowsh
hip for a few minutes,
m and soomeone brough ht up
the man lying outside. Peeople snickeredd and gossipedd, but no one bothered
b to askk him
to come in,, including me.
A few mom ments later, church began. WeW all waited fo
or the preache
er to take his place
p
and to give
e us the Word, when the doors to the churcch opened. In came
c the homeeless
man walkinng down the aissle with his hea
ad down.
People gassped and whispered and mad de faces. He made
m his way down
d the aisle and
up onto th
he pulpit. He took
t off his ha
at and coat. My
M heart sankk. There stood our
preacher. . .he was the “h
homeless man..”
No one saiid a word.
The preachher took his Biible and laid it on the stand. “Folks, I don’t think I have to
o tell
you what I am preaching about today.

 
 

The Obsttacles
s In Our
O Paath
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
In ancient times, a King
g had a boulde er placed on a roadway. Th hen he hid
himself andd watched to see
s if anyone would remove e the huge rockk. Some of
the king's wealthiest meerchants and courtiers
c camee by and simply walked
around it. Many loudly blamed
b the Kin
ng for not keeeping the roadss clear but
none did anything about getting
g the ston
ne out of the way.
w
Then a pea asant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching
the bouldeer, the peasant laid down his burden and trried to move th he stone to
the side of the road. Afterr much pushing
g and straining, he finally succceeded.
After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he
e noticed a purse lying in
the road where
w the bould
der had been. The purse co ontained many gold coins
and a note e from the Kinng indicating that
t the gold was
w for the person who
removed th he boulder from
m the roadway.
The peasaant learned wh hat many of usu never understand - "Everry obstacle
presents an opportunity to
o improve our condition."

The Sealw
woma
an
Spirittual Sto
ory by Clariss
C sa Pinko
ola
Estess
This story is about a sea alwoman who has her sealsskin stolen from m her by a
lonely fishe
erman. He pro omises to returrn it after 7 ye
ears as long ass she lives
with him for
f this time. The woman agreesa and reeturns to his home.
h The
sealwoman n has a child and
a although content
c enouggh, she feels inncreasingly
uncomforta able in the outter world. Her hair starts falling out, her eyyelids start
peeling andd her skin crac
cks.
One night the child wakes up to hear arguing. It ha as been 7 yeaars and the
sealwoman n is demanding g that she havve her sealskin n back. “I want what I am
made of re
eturned to me” cries the sealw woman. The hu usband refusess to give his
wife back the
t sealskin fo or fear that she
e will lose him.. The child goe
es to sleep
but wakes up in the night to hear the sound
s of the wind and goes out
o into the
dark. He comes upon his mothers’ sealskin and returns it to o her. The
sealwoman n pulls on her sealskin,
s grabss her child and heads for the ocean.
o She
breathes in
nto the child’s mouth 3 timess and then divves deep into thet waters.
Together th
hey swim until they are home e with her familyy.

The Ston
ne Cuttter
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
There wass once a stone cutter who waas dissatisfied with himself and with his possition in life. One
O day he passsed a
wealthy meerchant's hous
se. Through the
e open gatewa ay, he saw many fine possesssions and imp portant visitors.. "How
powerful th
hat merchant must
m be!" thoug
ght the stone cu
utter. He becamme very enviouus and wished that he could be b like
the merchaant.
To his gre
eat surprise, he suddenly be ecame the me erchant, enjoying more luxurries and powe er than he had d ever
imagined, but envied andd detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high h official passsed by, carrie
ed in a
sedan chair, accompanie ed by attendantts and escorted by soldiers beating
b gongs. Everyone, no matter how we ealthy,
had to bow
w low before the
e procession. "How
" powerful that official is!"" he thought. "I wish that I cou
uld be a high offficial!"

 
 

Then he be ecame the highh official, carrie

ed everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and d hated by the people
p
all around. It was a hot summer day, so o the official felt very uncomfo
ortable in the sticky
s sedan ch
hair. He lookedd up at
the sun. It shone proudlyy in the sky, unaffected by hiss presence. "How powerful th he sun is!" he thought. "I wish
h that I
could be th
he sun!"
Then he became
b the su
un, shining fieercely down on n everyone, scorching the fields,
f cursed by the farmerrs and
laborers. But
B a huge bla ack cloud movved between him h and the earth, so that hish light could no longer shiine on
everything below. "How powerful
p that sttorm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish
w that I coulld be a cloud!"
Then he be ecame the clou ud, flooding the fields and villlages, shouted
d at by everyon
ne. But soon heh found that he
h was
being push hed away by some great forcce, and realized that it was th he wind. "Howw powerful it is!" he thought. "I
" wish
that I could
d be the wind!"
Then he be ecame the win nd, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared
f and hatted by all below
w him.
But after a while, he ran up against something that would
w not move e, no matter ho ow forcefully he
h blew againsst it - a
huge, toweering rock. "How
w powerful thatt rock is!" he th
hought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"
Then he be ecame the rock k, more powerfful than anythin
ng else on eartth. But as he sttood there, he heard the soun
nd of a
hammer po ounding a chisel into the hard
d surface, and felt himself be
eing changed. "What
" could be
e more powerfuul than
I, the rock?
?" he thought.
w far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
He looked down and saw

The Trou
uble Tree
T
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
The carpenter I hired to help me resto ore an old farm
mhouse had ju ust finished a
rough first day on the job
b. A flat tire ma a hour of work, his electric
ade him lose an
saw quit, and
a now his ancient
a pickup truck refused to start. While
e I drove him
home, he sat
s in stony sile
ence.
On arriving
g, he invited me
m in to meet his
h family. As we
w walked tow ward the front
door, he paused
p briefly at a small tree
e, touching the
e tips of the branches
b with
both handss. When opening the door he h underwent ana amazing tra ansformation.
His tannedd face was wre eathed in smilees and he huggged his two small
s children
and gave his
h wife a kiss.
Afterward he
h walked me to the car. Wee passed the trree and my curriosity got the
better of me.
m I asked him about what I had
h seen him dod earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied."" I know I can't help having tro
oubles on the
job, but on
ne thing's for su
ure, troubles doon't belong in the
t house with h my wife and
the childre
en. So I just haang them on the t tree every night when I come home.
Then in thee morning I pick them up agaiin."
He paused d. "Funny thingg is," he smiled, "when I come
e out in the moorning to pick
ere ain't nearly as many as I remember
'em up, the r ging up the night before."
hang

 
 

The Wate
er Pum
mp
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
There oncee was a man with a water pump.p To a frieend he said, "This
water pummp will provide you with all the water you u need. Here, it is
yours." The friend was delighted
d to receive it, since he was thirstyy as
well as nee
eding water forr his dying gard
den.
The next day
d the man came
c by againn. His friend accused him, "This
ny water. You lied to me."
pump doess not supply an
The man asked,
a "Did you
u plug the pump
p into power?"
"No."
"Plug it into
o power and yo
ou shall have all
a the water you
u need."
The next day
d the man ca ame by again to t see how hiss friend was do
oing.
"You lied," his friend said. "I plugged it into power and it gave no water."
"Did you le
et a pipe into the well so that the
t pump could
d draw water?"
"No."
"Let a pipe he well and it will give you all the water you
e down into th
need."
The next day d the man vis sited once morre and again his friend said, "You
"
lied; I still have
h no water.""
"Did you prrime the pump with water?"
"No!"
"Prime the pump with watter and you sha
all drink indeed
d."
The following day the ma an visited his friend
f and the friend rejoiced
d for
er. The friend said
all his wate s "Did I not te
ell you the truth
h?"
"Yes," said
d the man.
"Why then did you call me
e a liar?"
"That's how
w it seemed; I did not realizze it was my own
o ignorance that
made yourr word a lie to me."
m

Thin
ngs Aren't
A Alwa
ays What
W T
They
Seem
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Two traveling angels stop pped to spend the night in the
e home of a weealthy family. The
T family wass rude and refused to
let the angels stay in the mansion's gue
est room. Insteaad the angels were
w given a sm he cold basement.
mall space in th
As they maade their bed on
o the hard flooor, the older angel
a saw a ho
ole in the wall and repaired itt. When the yo
ounger
angel aske
ed why, the olde
er angel replied
d, "Things aren
n't always whatt they seem."
The next night the pair caame to rest at the
t house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his
h wife. After sharing
s
what little food
f he angels sleep in their bed where
they had the couple let th w they cou
uld have a good
d night's rest.

 
 

When the sun came up the t next morniing the angels found the farm
mer and his wiife in tears. Th
heir only cow, whose
w
milk had be
een their sole income, lay dea
ad in the field.
The younger angel was in nfuriated and asked
a the olderr angel: "How could
c you have e let this happen? The first ma
an had
everything,, yet you helpe
ed him", she acccused. "The second
s family had
h little but was
w willing to sh hare everything, and
you let the cow die."
"Things are
en't always wh hat they seem,"" the older ang
gel replied. "Wh
hen we stayed in the basemeent of the man
nsion, I
noticed the
ere was gold sttored in that ho
ole in the wall. Since the own
ner was so obsessed with grreed and unwillling to
share his good
g fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn
n't find it."
"Then last night as we slept in the farm
mer's bed, the angel of death
h came for hiss wife. I gave him
h the cow in
nstead.
Things aren't always wha
at they seem.

Thre
ee Blo
ocks of Sto
one
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A wizard was
w strolling wiith his three sissters when the
e most famous warrior of the region came up to him. "I want
w to
marry one of these beauttiful girls," he sa
aid.
"If one of them gets marrried, the otherss are going to think they are ugly. I am lookking for a tribe
e whose warriors can
have three wives," answe
ered the wizard d as he walked away.
And for ma
any a year he trraveled all over the Australian ed to find such a tribe.
n continent but never manage
"At least one of us could have been ha
appy," said one
e of the sisterss when they we
ere already old
d and weary frrom so
much wand dering.
"I was wron
ng, "answered the wizard. "Bu
ut now it’s too late."
And he turn
ned the three sisters
s into bloccks of stone.
Visitors to the Blue Mounntains National Park near Syd
dney can see them
t - and und
derstand that the happiness of one
does not mean
m the sadne
ess of others.

Thre
ee Ha
airs
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
There oncee was a woma an who woke up one morning g, looked in the
e mirror, and noticed
n she had
d only three ha
airs on
her head. "Well,"
" she said
d, "I think I'll bra
aid my hair tod
day." So she did
d and she had a wonderful daay.
The next day she woke up,u looked in the mirror and sa
aw that she ha
ad only two hairrs on her head. "H-M-M, " she
e said,
"I think I'll part
p my hair do
own the middle today." So she
e did and she had
h a grand da ay.
The next day
d she woke up,u looked in th he mirror and noticed
n that she
e had only onee hair on her he
ead "Well," she
e said,
"Today I'm going to wear my hair in a po
ony tail." So sh
he did and she had a fun, fun day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the
e mirror and no
oticed that therre wasn't a sing
gle hair on her head....
"YEAH!" sh
he exclaimed, "I
" don't have to
o fix my hair tod
day!"

 
 

Two
o Kind
ds of Food
d
Spirittual Sto
ory by C.M.
C Ka
ay
One day while
w travelling with a compaanion, Nanak to
ook shelter in the house of a poor, low-caaste Hindu carpenter
named Lalo. He took a liking to Lalo an
nd stayed with him for two we
eeks. Then he heard that peo ople were gosssiping.
They said, "Nanak is a high-caste Hindu
u; why should he
h be staying with
w a low-caste e man? It is no
ot proper."
One day a wealthy landlo ord of the neigh hborhood decid ded to give a big feast and to invite all the fo
ou castes of Hindus -
- brahmins, military, merc
chants and man nual laborers. A brahmin frien nd of Guru Nannak came to him m and told him about
the feast. "You
" really mu
ust go," he said d. But Nanak did
d not believe in castes, and d considered all men equal. He H did
not like the
e idea, and said ong to any of the four castes, so why invite me?" "Ah," said the brahmin, "now
d, "I do not belo
I see why people call you u a 'heretic'. Malik, the landlo
ord, will be veryy displeased with
w you if you refuse
r his invitation."
And he walked away.
Nanak did not go to the feast,
f and, sure
e enough, afte
erwards Malik came
c and conffronted him. "W Why did you disshonor
me by stayying away?" "WWell," replied Nanak,
N "I do not crave fine foo
od. But if this offends
o you, th
hen I will eat so
ome of
your food."" But Malik was still not happ
py, and accuseed Nanak o ign noring his own caste and eatting and stayin ng with
Lalo, a low
w-caste man.
"Then givee me my share of elegant foo od from your ba anquet," said Nanak,"
N and turrning to Lalo he asked him too bring
him something from his stock
s of simple
e food. When both
b foods werre set before Guru
G Nanak, he took Lalo's coarse
c
food in his right hand and
d Malik's fine foood in his left, and squeezedd them both. Loo and behold, from
f Lalo's foo
od milk
flowed out,, and from Maliik's, blood!

Two
o Rabbis
Spirittual Sto
ory by Christin
C na Feld
dman an
nd Jack
k
Kornfield
In the courrse of their long
g wanderings, the two brothe ers, Rabbi Zusyya and Rabbi Elimelekh,
E often came to the city of
Ludmir. Thhere they alway ys slept in the house
h of a pooor, devout man n. Years later when
w their reputation had spre
ead all
over the co
ountry they cam me to Ludmir ag gai, not on foott as before, butt in a carriage.
The wealth w had never wanted to havve anything to do with them, came to meet them,
hiest man in that little town, who
the momennt he heard the
ey had arrived, and begged th
hem to lodge in his house. But they said:
"Nothing has
h changed inn us to make you respect us u more than before. What is new is just the horses an
nd the
carriage. Take
T them for your
y guests, but let us stop with our old host, as usual.

Wav
ves In
n An Ocean
O n
Spirittual Sto
ory by Mitch
M A
Albom
A little wavve was bobbingg along in the ocean,
o having a grand old tim
me. He's enjoying the wind an
nd the fresh air--until
he notip'=cces the other waves
w in front off him, crashing
g against the sh
hore.
"My God, this is terrible," the wave sayss. "Look what's going to happe
en to me!"
Then along
g comes anothe
er wave. It see
es the first wave
e, looking grim, and it says to
o him, "Why do you look so sa
ad?"
The first wa
ave says, "You
u don't understa
and! We're all going
g to crash!! All of us wave
es are going to be nothing! Isn't this
terrible?"
The second wave says, "No, YOU don'tt understand. You're
Y not a wa
ave, you're partt of the ocean.""

 
 

Wett Pantts
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A nine-yea ar-old was kid sitting
s at his desk when sudde enly there is a puddle betweeen his feet and the front of hiss pants
are wet. He thinks his he eart is going too stop becausee he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never
happened before, and he e knows that when
w the boys find
f out he will never hear the end of it. Wh
hen the girls finnd out,
they'll neve
er speak to him
m again as long as he lives.
The boy believes
b his he
eart is going to
o stop; he putss his head dow
wn and prays this prayer, "D
Dear God, thiss is an
emergencyy! I need help now!
n Five minutes from now I'm dead meat"
He looks up from his pray
yer and here co her with a look in her eyes tha
omes the teach at says he has been discoverred.
As the teacher is walking g toward him, a classmate na amed Susie iss carrying a goldfish bowl thaat is filled with water.
Susie trips in front of the teacher and innexplicably dumps the bowl of o water in the
e boy's lap. The
e boy pretendss to be
angry, but all the while is saying to himsself, "Thank you
u, Lord! Thankk you, Lord!"
Now all of a sudden, inste
ead of being th
he object of ridiicule, the boy iss the object of sympathy. The e teacher rushees him
downstairss and gives him
m gym short to o put on while his pants dry out.
o All the oth her children are e on their handds and
knees clea
aning up around d his desk. The
e sympathy is wonderful.
w But as life would have
h it, the ridiccule that should
d have
been his haas been transfe
erred to someoone else - Susie.
She tries to
o help, but they
y tell her to get out. "You've done enough, you
y klutz!"
Finally, at the
t end of the day, as they arre waiting for th
he bus, the boyy walks over to
o Susie and wh
hispers, "You did
d that
on purpose e, didn't you?"
Susie whisspers back, "I wet
w my pants on
nce too."

Wha
at It Means
M s To Be
B Ad
dopted
d
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
Teacher Debbie Moon's first-graders were
w discussing
g a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had diffferent
color hair than the other family
f members.
One child suggested tha
at he was adopted, and a litttle girl named Jocelynn Jayy said, "I know
w all about ado
options
because I'm
m adopted."
"What doess it mean to be
e adopted?" askked another ch
hild.
"It means,"" said Jocelynn
n, "that you grew
w in your moth
her's heart inste
ead of her tumm
my."

 
 

Whiisper or Brrick
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A young annd successful executive was traveling down n a neighborho ood street, goin
ng a bit too fasst in his new Jaguar.
He was watching
w for kids darting out from betwee en parked carrs and slowed d down when he thought he e saw
something.. As his car pas
ssed, no children appeared. Instead, a brickk smashed intoo the Jag's sidee door!
He slamme ed on the brake
es and spun th
he Jag back to the spot from where the bricck had been thrrown. He jumped out
of the car, grabbed somee kid and pushe
ed him up again
nst a parked ca
ar shouting,
"What wass that all about and who are you?
y Just whatt do you think you are doing? ?" Building up a head of stea
am, he
went on. "T ar and that bricck you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do
That's a new ca d it?"
"Please, mister,
m please. I'm sorry, butt I didn't know
w what else to o do!" pleaded the youngster. "I threw the e brick
because noo one else wou uld stop." Tearss were dripping
g down the boyy's chin as he pointed
p aroundd the parked ca
ar. "It's
my brotherr," he said. "He
e rolled off the
e curb and fell out of his whe
eelchair and I can't
c lift him up
p." Sobbing, th
he boy
asked the executive, "Wo ould you please help me get him back into his wheelchairr? He's hurt an nd he's too hea
avy for
me."
Moved beyyond words, thee driver tried to
o swallow the rapidly
r swelling
g lump in his th
hroat. He lifted the young man n back
into the wh
heelchair and took
t out his haandkerchief an
nd wiped the scrapes and cu uts checking too see that everrything
was going to be okay. "Thank you and God bless you u," the grateful child said to hiim. The man thhen watched thhe little
boy push his
h brother dowwn the sidewalkk toward their home.
h
f the man to his Jaguar...a long, slow wallk. He never did repair the sid
It was a long walk back for de door. He ke ept the
dent to rem
mind him not to go through life
e so fast that so
omeone has to
o throw a brick at you to get yo
our attention.

Who ose liffe wo

ould you
y lik
ke to be
livin
ng
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A spiritual leader got very
y tired of her flock arguing ab
bout whose suffferings was wo
orst. Week afte
er week, not on nly did
they proclaaim the supremmacy of their ow wn suffering, but
b they demea aned their neighbors as not being
b justified in their
personal su uffering.
They each thought, "If my pain was as little as theirs, I could laugh and be joyouss, rather than be
b forced to go about
with this pa
ained look in my
m eye."
The leaderr called her floc ound a gnarly little tree one winter
ck together aro w day and handed each person a penccil and
an envelop
pe with a string through a holee in the corner, and a blank piece of paper in
nside.
"I have bee
en very troubleed that many of o you feel thatt Spirit has givven you a more en to carry than your
e severe burde
neighbors. I took this hea
artfelt concern to
t prayer with me,
m and Spirit has h offered a solution.
s
We will eacch take the bla
ank paper out of
o the envelope o personal suffering, and put
e, write down our p the paper back
b in
the envelop elope and find a limb to tie yo
pe. Write your name on the frront of the enve our envelope on
n.
This is ourr suffering tree.. When you tie your envelope e, your sufferin ee, Spirit has promised that you will
ng, onto the tre
be free of it.
i However, as s you have left a suffering on the tree, you must
m take one from the tree. Every person will be
allowed to exchange the eir suffering fo
or any other thhat they pick off
o this tree ass we walk aro ound it. Once all
a the
sufferings have
h been take en back from thhis tree, we willl be done, and
d Spirit promise
es that each of us will then be
e more
content witth the suffering we bear."
It took quitte a long time of
o walking arou und the tree be ook any suffering to be their own. But even
efore anyone to ntually,
the first envelope was cla nvelope came off the tree, ea
aimed. Little byy little, every en ach person claiming the suffering of
their choicee.
And each person
p claimed
d the very sam
me suffering the
ey had hung on
n the tree... bu
ut Spirit was co
orrect. Each on
ne was
more conte
ent with what was
w theirs to be
ear.
This story was
w contributed by C.G. Waltters. For more spiritual materrial, you can vissit his blog.

 
 

Why
y We Shou
ut Whe
en In Ange
er
Spirittual Sto
ory by Unknow
U wn
A Hindu saaint who was visiting river Ga
anges to take bath
b found a grroup of family members
m on th
he banks, shou
uting in
anger at ea
ach other. He turned to his dissciples smiled and asked.
'Why do pe
eople shout in anger
a shout at each other?'
Disciples th hile, one of them said, 'Becau
hought for a wh use we lose our calm, we sho
out.'
'But, why should
s you shout when the other person is ju
ust next to you? You can as well
w tell him wh
ha you have to say in
a soft manner.' asked the
e saint
Disciples gave
g some othe
er answers but none satisfied
d the other disciples.
Finally the saint explained
d, .
'When two people are an ngry at each otther, their hearrts distance a lot. To cover th
hat distance th
hey must shoutt to be
able to hea hey are, the stronger they wiill have to shou
ar each other. The angrier th ut to hear eachh other to cove
er that
great distance.
What happ pens when two o people fall in love? They do
on't shout at ea
ach other but ta
alk softly, Beca
ause their hearrts are
very close. The distance between them is either nonexxistent or very small...'
The saint continued,
c 'Whhen they love each
e other eveen more, what happens? The ey do not spea ak, only whispe
er and
heir love. Finally they even ne
they get evven closer to each other in th eed not whispe
er, they only loo
ok at each othe
er and
that's all. That
T is how clos
se two people are
a when they love each othe er.'
He looked at his disciples
s and said.
'So when you
y argue do not
n let your heaarts get distant,, Do not say wo
ords that distan
nce each otherr more, Or else
e there
will come a day when the distance is so
s great that you will not find d the path to re
eturn. They maay end up in divorce
d
courts, for instance.'
Thanks to Malladi Venkatta Krishna Murrthy for sharing
g this story!

Won
ndrou
us Pow
wers
Spirittual Sto
ory by Roger
R D Abra
D. ahams
An old mann had three chiildren, all boys.. When they ha
ad grown up to o manhood, he called them together and told
d them
that now he was very oldd and no longe er able to proviide, even for himself.
h He ordered them to go
g out and brinng him
food and clothing.
The three brothers set ou
ut, and after a very long whille they came to
o a large river. As they had gone
g on togethher for
such a time, they decide
ed that once thhey got across they would se eparate. The eldest told the youngest
y to take the
middle road, and th eseco
ond to go to the right, while he
h himself would go to the leftt. Then, in a ye
ear's time, they would
come backk to the same spot.
s
So they paarted, and at the end of a yea ar, as agreed, they
t T eldest asked the
found theiir way back to the riverside. The
youngest what
w he had go otten during hiss travels, and th
he boy replied:: "I have nothin
ng but a mirror,, but it has won
nderful
power. If yo
ou look into it, you can see alll over the counntry no matter how
h far away."
When aske ed in turn whatt he had gotten
n, the second brother
b replied:: "Only a pair of
o sandals that are so full of power,
p
that if one puts them on one
o can walk att once to any place
p in the couuntry in one steep."
Then the eldest
e himself, said: "I, too, ha
ave obtained but
b little, a sma
all calabash of medicine,
m that is all. But let us
u look
into the mirrror and see hoow father fares."
The youngest produced his h mirror, and they all lookedd into it and saw
w that their fath
her was alreadyy dead and tha at even
the funeral custom was finished. Then thet elder said: "Let us hasten n home and se ee what we can n do." So the second
s
brought ou a all three placed their feett inside them and,
ut his sandals, and a immediate ely, they were borne
b to their fa
ather's
grave. The en the eldest sh
hook the mediccine out of his bag,
b and poureed it over the grave.
g At once their
t father aroose, as
if nothing had
h been the matter
m with him..
Now which
h of these three
e sons has perfformed the besst?