Holy Man

Word spread across the countryside about the wise Holy Man who lived in a small house atop the mountain. A man from the village decided to make the long and difficult journey to visit him. When he arrived at the house, he saw an old servant inside who greeting him at the door. “I would like to see the wise Holy Man,” he said to the servant. The servant smiled and led him inside. As they walked through the house, the man from the village looked eagerly around the house, anticipating his encounter with the Holy Man. Before he knew it, he had been led to the back door and escorted outside. He stopped and turned to the servant, “But I want to see the Holy Man!”

“You already have,” said the old man. “Everyone you may meet in life, even if they appear plain and insignificant… see each of them as a wise Holy Man. If you do this, then whatever problem you brought here today will be solved.”

What is the message of this story for you?

• “Anticipation of something may be greater than the thing itself. Anticipation of looks is always a mistake.”
• “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
• “We see ourselves in everyone we meet.”
• “The man in the story got lost looking for a deep solution to his problem, when all along the answer was right on the surface.”

What do YOU see?

“A wise man learns more from a fool than the fool from the wise man.”

Keep on Kickin’ On!

I’m not a big fan of slimy things. This includes lizards of any kind ~ just ask my kids how fast I can run if one of those show up while I’m cleaning in the garage (or maybe the aversion to the garage cleaning came first?). I put frogs, snails, worms, snakes and a whole bunch of other creatures into that category of “slimy” things.

Truthfully though, I have no idea if they are slimy at all! I’m just going by the way they look and the fact they are in a class of animal species that has freaked me out since 9th grade Biology and we had to dissect a frog. Turned out, that frog may have been dead, but he was going to get the last laugh. After donning all sorts of protective gear and practically bribing a lab partner to do the actual slicing, when the first cut was made that frog let loose of his bodily fluid in a stream meant to soak a heavy-duty cello sponge! And guess who was standing in the middle of that stream.

Oh well. Those days are gone and can’t be relived (except in my own little mind) so maybe there is something I can learn from the little fellas. In fact, I kinda like the attitude of one in this parable.

There were two frogs that had become bored with life in the River Torrens, so they decided to go on an adventure to a neighboring dairy farm.

There they found a bucket of lovely cream, and decided it would be a wonderful experience to wallow in it. They hopped in. The first licked his lips with delight, and the two swam around with momentary joy. But cream is much thicker than water, and soon the frogs tired. It was time to get out and return to the Torrens.

The first frog kicked and kicked and kicked, but the cream was thick, and he couldn’t get out the bucket. Soon he gave up, licked his lips, and drowned in the bucket of cream.

The second frog was far more determined. He kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked some more. Eventually the cream turned to butter, and he jumped out of the bucket and returned to the River Torrens.

Attitude does make a difference to the outcomes of our lives. So, don’t give up on life ~ keep on kickin’ on!

Find more at: barefootpreachr.org

The Rose That Grows Within

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it.

He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought, “How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns? Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and just before it was ready to bloom… it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects.

We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns of another, and find the rose within them.

This is one of the characteristic of love… to look at a person, know their true faults and accepting that person into your life… all the while recognizing the nobility in their soul. Help others to realize they can overcome their faults. If we show them the “rose” within themselves, they will conquer their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.