There was this Hindu who saw a scorpion
floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his
finger, but the scorpion stung him. The man still tried to get the scorpion
out of the water, but the scorpion stung him again.
A man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him.
But the Hindu said: "It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my
nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is
the nature of the scorpion to sting?"
Don't give up loving.
Don't give up your goodness.
Even if people around you sting.
The Butterfly
A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared,
he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to
force its body through the little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had
gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. Then the man decided
to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily.
Something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled
wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at
any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the
body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life
crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never
able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the
restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get
hrough the small opening of the cocoon are God's way of forcing fluid
rom the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready
for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.
If God allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that
would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
Not only that, we could never fly.
Fifteen things God WON'T ask
God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but will ask how many people you
drove who didn’t have transportation.
God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but will ask how many people
you welcomed into your home.
God won’t ask about the fancy clothes you had in your closet, but will ask
how many of those clothes helped the needy.
God won’t ask about your social status, but will ask what kind of class you
displayed.
God won’t ask how many material possessions you had, but will ask if they
dictated your life.
God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but will ask if you compromised
your character to obtain that salary.
God won’t ask how much overtime you worked, but will ask if you worked
overtime for your family and loved ones.
God won’t ask how many promotions you received, but will ask how you
promoted others.
God won’t ask what your job title was, but will ask if you reformed your job
to the best of your ability.
God won’t ask what you did to help yourself, but will ask what you did to
help others.
God won’t ask how many friends you had, but will ask how many people to whom
you were a true friend.
God won’t ask what you did to protect your rights, but will ask what you did
to protect the rights of others.
God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but will ask how you treated
your neighbors.
God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but will ask about the content
of your character.
God won’t ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but will ask how
many times they didn’t.
