There was a believer who had an irreligious son. The
father was upset but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t bring the young
man to believe. When his death was near, he called his son:
“Can you do something for me?”
“What exactly, Father?”
“When I die, please stay in this room for fifteen
minutes every day during the first forty days.”
“What should I be doing here?”
“You don’t need to do anything. Just sit here for at
least fifteen minutes every day.”
When the old man died, his son buried him and did
precisely what he had been told to do: he went to that room and sat there for
fifteen minutes every day. Forty days later, the young man went to church for
the first time and became a Christian.
Many years later, the man realized how wise his
father’s last wish had been. The old man saw that young people lived too fast
and didn’t have the time to think about the meaning of their lives, about their
immortal souls, and about God. If they paused to sit still in silence, they
would soon hear God knocking at their hearts.
Translated
by The Catalog of Good Deeds
CONVERSATION