Paresh, an Indian carpenter I once hired to help me
restore my old farmhouse had just finished a difficult and hard first day on
the job. A flat tyre on his lorry made him lose an hour of work, his electric
saw packed in, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove
him home, Paresh sat in stony, thoughtful silence.
On arriving, Paresh, in the way of all Indian gentlefolk,
invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused
briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
When opening the door to his home, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
When opening the door to his home, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
After a cup of tea, he walked me to my car. We passed the
tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen
him do earlier.
'Oh, that's my trouble tree,' Paresh replied. 'I know I
can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don't
belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the
tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.
Funny thing is', he smiled winningly, 'when I come out in the morning to pick
them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night
before.'
Here is the situation, Jenny the farmer's wife looks out
of her window. What does she see but a bull in a field caught his head in
between the bars of a feeder.
Jenny calls the fire brigade. Their siren only
makes the bull more agitated. When they appraise the situation they
realise they are not equipped to deal with cattle, so they phone for the RSPCA
inspector to help free the animal.
Six hefty firemen and the inspector push and pull the
beast and eventually they wrestle its head from between the bars.
The bull was, by now, very angry and turned snorting at
the men and began to attack them. Fearing for their life, they hide in
the animal feeder.
Whereupon the farmer's wife burst into tears of joy followed by tears of laughter.
Whereupon the farmer's wife burst into tears of joy followed by tears of laughter.
Jenny was now able to rescue the rescuers. All she
did was get the bull's old milk bottle, half fill it with milk, put on the
teat, and use it to lead the bull from the animal feeder into the farmyard and
close the gate.
In days gone by, two brothers, Raul and Johan, who lived
on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 35
years of farming side-by-side in central Germany, sharing machinery, and
trading labour and goods as needed without a single problem occurring.
However, one autumn, the long collaboration fell apart.
It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and
finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of
silence between the two brothers.
One morning there was a knock on Raul's door. He opened
it to find a man holding a carpenter's toolbox. 'I'm looking for a few days
work,' Angelis said. 'Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I
could help with? Could I help you?'
'Yes,' answered Raul, extremely pleased to see Angelis
the carpenter, 'I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm.
That's my neighbour, in fact, it's my younger brother, Johan's farm. Last week
there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and
now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but
I'll go him one better. See that pile of lumber by the barn? I want you to
build me a fence; an 8-foot fence, so I won't need to see Johan's place nor his
face anymore.'
Angelis the carpenter said thoughtfully, 'I think I
understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post hole digger and I'll
be able to do a job that pleases you.'
Raul then left for the nearby town, Erfurt, so he helped
the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The
carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing, and hammering.
About sunset when Raul returned, the carpenter had just
finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no
fence there at all.
It was a bridge: a bridge stretching from one side of the
creek to the other. A fine piece of work handrails and all, and the neighbour,
his younger brother Johan, was coming across, his hand outstretched. 'You are
quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done, 'Johan
smiled.
The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and
then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand. They turned to see the
carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. 'No, wait. Stay a few days. I've a
lot of other projects for you,' called Raul.
'I'd love to stay on,' Angelis murmured quietly, 'but, I
have many more bridges to build.'
The
Tale of the Cracked Pot
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was
perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the
long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman
bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was
proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own
imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made
to do.
After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure,
it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. 'I am ashamed of myself, because
this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'
The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of
the path, but not on the other pot's side?
That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I
planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk
back, you water them.' 'For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful
flowers to decorate the table.' Without you being just the way you are, there
would not be this beauty to grace the house.'
Each of us has our own unique flaw...
But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our
lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each
person for what they are and look for the good in them.
To all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember
to smell the flowers, on your side of the path. Take the time to absorb
this inspirational Chinese proverb.
