A Beautiful Story

I came across this short story while waiting for my turn at the dental clinic. (Sorry, but I forgot the name of the small booklet):

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father told his daughter,"Hold my hand so that you won't fall into the river." The little girl replied, "No, papa. You hold my hand."

"What's the difference?" asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl.

"If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let go of your hand. But if you hold my hand, I am very sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

Beautiful, huh?

And so it is with God, we need to allow Him to hold on to our hand as we journey along this world. On reflection, I remember the many times I let go of His hand .....

• when my husband passed away and my heart was in anguish,
• when I was tired and discouraged from fruitless efforts,
• when I've tried everything and nothing seemed to work,
• when nothing made sense and I felt frustrated, etc.

Now that I have retired, I am trying my best to reach out and let God hold my hand. Through reading the Bible and prayer.

After being a Sunday Catholic for so many years (ie. praying in Church only on Sundays), setting aside some time - everyday - for reading and prayer requires a lot of effort and discipline...

Then I think of my Muslim friends who pray 5 times a day. They show such good examples.

And so I tell myself, "God willing, I can."

Cheers! :)

Stories From My Childhood Days

Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales were all part of the stories of my childhood. In her desire to pass on her love of reading to my brothers and me, my mother read to us classic tales every night. It worked!! As time went by, my brothers and I graduated from being eager listeners to being avid readers.

Looking back, I realized that my mother's bedtime stories also helped to shape my character because a lot of her stories showed consequences of actions. I can still remember her story on "Selfishness". The story goes like this...

A bad old woman died. In her whole life she had not done one good deed. So Satan grabbed her and threw her into the sea of flames. But her guardian angel did not give up. "Can't I recall a single good thing that she had done?" he thought hard and long. Then he brightened up and said to God, "I distinctly remember one time that she dug a small potato out of her garden and gave it to a beggar."

"All right," said God. "Take that same small potato and hold it down to her in the sea of fire and try to lift her up with it. If you succeed, she will go to heaven."

So the angel began to pull her up very carefully. But when the others saw what was happening and she began to go up, they all began to hang onto her. The woman started kicking them off, shouting, "I'm the only one supposed to be rescued by this little potato. It belongs to me alone; it's not yours."

At that, the potato tore apart and she fell right back down into the sea of fire, where she still is. The angel wept.

When adults want to impart important things - like faith, belief, values - to children, it's often best related in the form of stories. Stories are more easily understood and enjoyed.

The character of your children tomorrow depends on what you put into their hearts today. So, tell them bedtime stories!! :)