21st august

Unfolding A Rosebud

 A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more  seasoned  preacher in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure  about  what God had for him to do,

 he was inquiring of the older preacher. The older preacher  walked  up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud  and told  him to open it without  tearing off any petals.

 The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older  preacher and  was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have  to do  with his wanting to know  the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry. Because  of his  high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to  unfold  the rose, while keeping  every petal intact...It wasn’t long before he realized  how  impossible it was to do so.

 Noticing the younger preacher’s inability to unfold the  rosebud  while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite  the  following poem...

 UNFOLDING

 It is only a tiny rosebud,

 A flower of God’s design;

 But I cannot unfold the petals

 With these clumsy hands of mine.

 The secret of unfolding flowers

 Is not known to such as I.

 GOD opens this flower so sweetly,

 When in my hands they fade and die.

 If I cannot unfold a rosebud,

 This flower of God’s design,

 Then how can I think I have wisdom

 To unfold this life of mine?

 So I’ll trust in Him for His leading

 Each moment of every day.

 I will look to him for His guidance

 Each step of the pilgrim way.

 The pathway that lies before me,

 Only my Creator knows.

 I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments,

 Just as He unfolds the rose.

A sufi story

There is a famous Sufi story: A man just got married and was
returning home with his wife. THEY WERE CROSSING A LAKE IN A BOAT when
suddenly a great storm arose.

The man was a warrior, but the woman
became very much afraid because it seemed almost hopeless: THE BOAT WAS
SMALL AND THE STORM WAS REALLY HUGE, and any moment they were going to
be drowned. But the man sat silently, calm and quiet, as if nothing was
happening.

The woman was trembling and she said, "ARE YOU NOT
AFRAID? This may be our last moment of life! It doesn't seem that we
will be able to reach the other shore. Only some miracle can save us;
otherwise death is certain.

Are you not afraid? Are you mad or
something? Are you a stone or something?

" THE MAN LAUGHED AND TOOK THE SWORD OUT OF ITS SHEATH. The woman was even
more puzzled:

What he was doing? Then he brought the naked sword close to the woman's neck
-- so close that just a small gap was there, it was almost touching her
neck. He said,

"ARE YOU AFRAID?" She started to laugh and said,

"WHY I SHOULD BE AFRAID?

If the sword is in your hands, why I should be
afraid?

I know you love me.

" He put the sword back and said,
"This is my answer.

I KNOW GOD LOVES ME, and the sword is in his hands,
and the storm is in his hands --

SO WHATSOEVER IS GOING TO HAPPEN IS
GOING TO BE GOOD. If we survive, good; if we don't survive, good --
because everything is in his hands and he cannot do anything wrong."

THIS IS THE TRUST ONE NEEDS TO IMBIBE. Such tremendous trust is capable
of transforming your whole life. And ONLY such tremendous trust is
capable of transforming your life -- less than that won't do.

THE CLIFF HANGER

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and, to his horror, saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He couldn’t hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff.

So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something. HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? ”HELP!” He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.

”Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?”

”Yes, yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!”

”I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?”

”Yes, but who are you, and where are you?

”I am the Lord, Jack. I’m everywhere.”

”The Lord? You mean, GOD?”

”That’s Me.”

”God, please help me! I promise if, you’ll get me down from here, I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.”

Easy on the promises, Jack. Let’s get you off from there; then we can talk.” ”Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”

”I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”

”Okay. Let go of the branch.”

”What?”

”I said, let go of the branch.” Just trust Me. Let go.”

There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, ”HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?”

Have you ever felt like Jack? We say that we want to know the will of God, but when we find out what it is, we can’t handle it. Sounds too scary--too difficult. We decide to look elsewhere. When He says, ”Let go of the things that stand between you and Me, and trust Me with your life,” it sounds pretty scary. But when we let go, we find freedom and safety in His hands.”

Be Selfish.

Gautam Buddha is passing near a village which consists of high caste brahmins only. They are very much against Gautam Buddha, they have all gathered outside the village to condemn him, to abuse him. He stands there listening to their abuse, their allegations, their lies. Even Ananda -- who has been with him all these years -- feels angry. Because they were born into a royal family: they were warriors, their whole training was to fight. But because Gautam Buddha is present, he controls himself; otherwise he would have killed one or two people then and there.

Gautam Buddha said to them, ”You see that the sun is going to set soon, and we have to reach the other village before the sun sets. If you have not finished all that you wanted to say to me, I will make a point that when I return I set aside enough time to listen to you again. And in two days, I will be returning along the same route -- so it will be very kind of you if you can wait just two days.”

One man from the crowd said, ”You don’t seem to be disturbed at all. And we are not just saying things to you -- we are abusing you, insulting you.”

Gautam Buddha said, ”You have come a little late. If you had come ten years before, you would not have gone back alive. I am also a warrior. There would have been bloodshed here; not a single man in this crowd would have gone back alive. But you have come a little late.

”In the village just before this village, people came with sweets and fruits. And we said, `We eat only once a day, and we have taken our food, so it would be very kind if you would take these things back with you. We are grateful.’ What do you think they did with those sweets and those fruits?”

Somebody said, ”They must have distributed them amongst themselves; they must have eaten them.”

Buddha said, ”You are intelligent. Do the same: whatever you have brought, I don’t accept; take it back. Because unless I accept your insult, you cannot insult me; it is a two-way affair. It is your mouth, you can say anything -- but unless I accept it, you are just talking into the air. Just go home and say all these things to each other; enjoy. And I will be coming again after two days, so be ready.”

They were shocked, and they could not believe -- what kind of man is this?

When they moved on, Ananda said to Buddha, ”This is too much. There were moments when I was going to jump and hit the man! Just because of you, I tried to control my temptation.”

Buddha said -- and remember it -- he said: ”What those people were saying has not hurt me. What you are saying hurts me. You have been with me for so many years, and yet you are not aware enough to know what to take and what not to take? Can’t you discriminate?”

I want you not to become missionaries; I want you to become messages. And that is possible only if you are utterly selfish, so that before you start helping others, you have helped yourself; before you start enlightening other people, you are enlightened yourself.

That’s what I mean by being selfish.

Whatever you want to spread must be your living experience.

 Hope in adversity

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the  animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.  They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. 

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was  astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the  donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt.

The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up.

Each of our troubles is a  steppingstone.

We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up!

Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less

”Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”