A Little Parable from the East - keep hope alive do not surrender to frustration

You take a little seed, plant it, water it, and fertilise it for a whole year, and nothing happens

The second year you water it and fertilise it, and nothing happens

The third year you water it and fertilise it, and nothing happens. How discouraging this becomes!

The fourth year you water it and fertilise it, and nothing happens. This is very frustating

The fifth year you continue to water and fertilise the seed and then...take note. Sometime during the fifth year, the Chinese bamboo tree spouts and grows NINETY FEET IN SIX WEEKS

Life is much akin to the growing process of the Chinese bamboo tree.
It is often discouraging. We seemingly do things right, and nothing happens

But for those who do things right and are not discouraged and are persistent, things will happen.
Finally we begin to receive the rewards.

Source

Every day, find a new way to look at things

A water man in India had two big water pots, one hanging on each end of his yoke, which he carried around across his shoulder. One of the pots was cracked. While the good water pot could bring home a full pot of water from the faraway water spring, the cracked water pot could only bring back half a pot. For two years, this happened everyday.

The water man could only bring one and half pots of water to his master’s residence. Of course, the good water pot felt proud of his achievement as he was able to fulfill his duty perfectly. But the poor cracked water pot felt very embarrassed and sad because of its imperfection.

After two years being stressed by such failure, the cracked water pot said to the water man, “I am so embarrassed with myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the water man. “Why are you embarrassed?” “For two years, I have only brought half of a full jug as I have a crack on my side that makes the water drip little by little along the way to master’s house. My defect has brought you disadvantages,” said the water pot.

The water man felt sorry for the cracked water pot and, in his compassion, he told the water pot, “Tomorrow when we return back to our master’s house, I’d like you to take notice of the beautiful flowers along the way.” Later, when they climbed up the hill, the cracked water pot looked around and saw that there are many beautiful flowers along the way and seeing them did console him a bit. But, at the end of the journey, his sad feeling returned as he had lost half the water he carried. Once more, he apologized to the water man.

The water man said to the water pot, “Did you realize that there were flowers along the way on your side, but there were none along the other pot’s side? It was because i have always been aware of your flaw and I made use of it. I planted flower seeds along the way on your side, and everyday as we walked home from the spring, you have watered them. For these two years, I have been able to pick those beautiful flowers to decorate our master’s table. Without you as who you are, our master’s house wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is now.”

Found on peopleforothers.loyolapress.com

A Feather on the Breath of God

For you who asked about the poem I wrapped my sermon around last Sunday:


"Listen: there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honor. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. 
Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God." 


- Hildegard of Bingen, 1098 - 1179