There was a king who was a great admirer of art. He encouraged artists from all over his country and gave them valuable gifts. One day an artist came and said to the king, “Oh King! Give me a blank wall in your palace and let me paint a picture on it. It will be more beautiful than anything you have ever seen before. I promise you shall not be disappointed.”

Now, the king happened to be constructing a big hall at the rear end of the palace. So he said, “All right you may work on one of the walls in the new hall.” So the artist was given the job and he was very pleased indeed.

Just then, another young man said, “Oh King! Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I too am an artist.”

The king said, “What would you like to make?”

The man said, “My Lord, I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so, without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so that either of us cannot see the other.” Now, that was a tall statement. Everyone in the king’s court, including the king and the first artist were intrigued. But the king loved surprises and he decided to give the young fellow a chance.

The following day a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil, water etc. The second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day. After a month the first artist told the king that his work was complete and he would like to show it to the king. The king sent for the second artist and asked him, “Young man, when would your work be ready? I am coming to see the first wall this evening.”

The man said, “My Lord, my wall is ready too!”

The king went to see the first artist’s wall. He was very, very impressed with the painting and gave a hefty sum as a reward to the artist. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up. Lo and behold! The same painting was to be seen on the opposite wall too! Amazing! But true! Each line, each minor detail was exactly as it was on the first wall. But this man had not been seeing what was going on, on the other side of the curtain. So how had he done it? The king wanted to know the secret.

He gave a double reward to the fellow. Then he said, “Young man, I am indeed very happy with your work. But you must tell me; how did you do it?”

The lad said simply, “It’s very easy! I just polished the wall every day!”

It was a wall made of white marble! The fellow polished it till it shone like a mirror. The reflection of the painting across the room, showed up in it! That is what it means to polish yourself. For when we polish our hearts and souls, we see God’s reflection within. It is said that the world is a reflection of you. Whatever you are, the world will seem to be that too. If you are sad, jealous, dejected, angry, restless … that is what the world will seem to be! If you are happy, the world will seem to be paradise.

You decide how you want your world to look…

So the question is what are you reflecting?

(N.O.)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A man came home from work late again, tired, irritated, and stressed, to find his six year old son waiting for him at the door.

“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

“That is none of your business! What makes you ask such a question?” the man said irritatingly.

“Oh, I just wanted to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy. “Well, if you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”

The father was irritated. “If the only reason you want to know how much money I make is so you can borrow some for a dopey toy or other nonsense, then off to your room and think about your selfishness. And besides, you’re only six years old, and six year olds don’t need money. I work long, hard hours every day to earn money for you and your mom, I don’t have time to talk about loaning you money.”

The little boy went quietly to his room and shut the door.

After about an hour, the father had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there really was a reason he needed to borrow $10.00, he had never asked before for money. The father went to the boy’s room and knocked on the door. “May I come in?” inquired the father.

“Yes, Daddy,” replied the little boy.

“I have been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It has been a long, tough day and I took my anger out on you. Here’s the $10.00 you asked for.”

The little boy sat up straight and beaming said “Oh thank you Daddy!” Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some crumpled up dollars. The father seeing that the boy already had money started to get angry again. The little boy slowly started to count out his money, then looked up at his father.

“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled. “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“For what,” said his father.

“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I borrow an hour of your time?”

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Share this story with someone you like….but even better, share time with someone you love.

-Author Unknown

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She beseeched him to help this child.

So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.

“Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?” yelled a man from the crowd.

“You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!” said the sage to the man.

The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: “If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?”

And thus, the sage healed two people that day.
(author unknown)

“Language does have the power to change reality. Therefore, treat your words as the mighty instruments they are – to heal, to bring into being, to nurture, to cherish, to bless, to forgive.” – Daphne Rose Kingma

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!