Seven Stories and Parables for the Week: Issue 4
There was
a young boy who was walking with his parents in the woods one day. He saw a
clean brook. He drank some fresh water and then he took a stick and started
mudding the water in the brook. The bottom of the brook was made of sand, so
all this sand, fallen leaves, and other rubbish appeared on the surface. The
water that had once been clean was no longer suitable for drinking. It was too
boring to look at the muddy water, so the boy threw the stick into the brook
and ran to his mother.
There was
another boy up in the mountains who tried the same trick with a mountain
stream. He wanted to muddy the water with a stick, too. However, the bottom of
the stream was rocky, so he broke the stick and ran away without having
achieved anything. The stream remained as clean as it had been before.
Similarly,
some people appear to be kind and willing to help, like a pure stream. However,
if you offend such a person, even unintentionally, you will see arrogance,
petty pride, and old offences get to the
surface of his soul, like mud and rubbish in a forest stream. On the contrary,
when a person constantly educates himself in the Word of God and thinks about
divine things, little by little the example of humility set by Jesus Christ
makes this virtuous person humble and persevering, so that anger and hostility
break like sticks when they meet the rock.
When an
individual does not want to believe in God, he prefers to ignore even the most
evident facts and proofs. There is a well-known story about a priest who tried
to persuade an unbeliever that miracles are possible.
—
Imagine, — he said, — You fell from a belfry and remained unscathed… I know of
one such story. Isn't it a miracle?
— No,
it's an accident! — The unbeliever disagreed.
— Okay...
What if the same happened again, and you remained alive and well. Wouldn't you
consider it a miracle?
— No,
it's sheer luck! — The unbeliever replied.
— Okay,
you fell from a belfry for the third time, and you are fine again. What will
you say?
— I'd say
it's a — a habit! — the unbeliever retorted.
A ship
does not sink when it's in water; it sinks when there's water inside. It
doesn't really matter what happens around us; what really matters are the
things that happen inside us.
In a
certain village, there was a priest. This is a story he told the people who did
not go to church on Sundays:
— A rich
man met a beggar on the road. The beggar told the rich man about his
afflictions. The rich man took pity on the beggar and gave the man two coins
out of the seven that he had on him. The beggar told some other stories about
how miserable he was, and he received two more coins. As they were walking past
a spring, they decided to have a rest and to eat a meal. The rich shared his
food with the beggar, and, upon hearing yet another story of the beggar’s life,
gave him two more coins. That’s how merciful he was! Having received six coins,
the beggar suddenly drew a knife from his pocket and demanded that the rich man
give him the seventh coin. How ungrateful of him! What punishment does the
beggar deserve? — the priest asked.
— He
deserves death! — his listeners burst out.
— Then
you deserve the same kind of punishment, too, — the priest replied. — You are
that thankless beggar. God gave you six
days and put aside just one day for Himself. Nonetheless, you have robbed him
of this last day.
Once upon
a time there were three friends who went swimming in a river close to a
waterfall one day. As they crossed the river, they figured out that they were
going adrift. The current was calm but it was speeding up as it went down to
the waterfall. Two of the friends were afraid of it, so they returned ashore
and started calling the third friend. But he simply laughed at them and yelled:
— I feel
so easy now!
His
friends were terrified and yelled at him:
— Keep
closer to the shore, the water will wash you down!
However,
he responded:
— On the
contrary, swimming is becoming easier and easier. I almost don’t need to do
anything in order to swim…
Moments
later, he suddenly realized that the current was carrying him at a dreadful
speed towards the waterfall but it was too late. Another desperate cry — and
the swimmer sank into the abyss.
The
swimmers are us. It is easy and convenient to swim downstream in life. However,
the careless swimmers may find themselves in the abyss.
A man was
walking down the sea shore and saw a boy lifting something up from the sand and
throwing it into the sea. The man came closer and saw that the boy was lifting
starfish. They surrounded him, and it seemed that there were millions of
starfish lying on the sand. They were literally scattered many miles across the
shore.
— Why are
you throwing the starfish into the sea? — the man asked as he approached the
boy.
— If they
are left on the shore until tomorrow morning, when the low tide comes, they
will die, — the boy replied while he kept doing what he was doing.
— But
that’s ridiculous! — the man exclaimed. — Look around! There are millions of
starfish here; the entire shore is littered with them. Your efforts will be to
no avail!
The boy
lifted another starfish, paused to think for a moment, and then threw it into
the sea and finally uttered:
— No, my
effort will mean a lot… for this starfish.
A woman
had a dream. She saw a shop where the Lord God stood at the counter.
— O Lord!
Is that you? — she exclaimed happily.
— Yes,
it’s me, — God said.
— What
can I buy in your shop? — the woman asked.
— You can
buy anything you want here, — was the answer.
— If so,
please give me health, happiness, love, success, and lots of money.
God
smiled approvingly and left for the storage room to bring the ordered goods.
Some time later He returned with a small paper box in his hands.
— Is that
all?! — the woman was surprised and disappointed.
— Yes,
that’s all, — God replied. — Didn’t you know that my shop sells only seeds?
Translated from: https://azbyka.ru/days/
