Moral Short Stories...

A Wise Woodcutter

>> 29 December 2011

Two woodcutters were entrusted with the work of cutting down the old rubber trees in an estate before replanting. One of them was stout and strong. The other was lean and thin. On the first day each of them could cut down the same number of trees. But the next day, the lean man could cut more trees than his friend. The third day, the trend continued, though the stout man worked harder without rest, sweating profusely. The stout man doubted his own strength and suspected that he was becoming weaker as his performance was steadily declining.

He watched the work of the lean man to learn the secret of his success. He was found to take frequent breaks and go away, apparently to rest, but mysteriously, was more productive. The stout man asked his colleague about his secret. The lean man said that every hour he used to take a short break to rest and relax for a while, and during this period, he used to sharpen his axe as it gets dull with repeated use. A sharp axe enables one to work more effectively with less effort. The sharp axe cuts deeper and the occasional rest supplies strength and energy.

This is true in our daily life. Some people are always busy with their work. They do not find time to rest or sharpen their mind. Meditation, prayer, reading good books, hobbies and healthy interaction with family and society are the means to sharpen our personality and spirituality. ‘Workaholics’ like alcoholics get addicted to work and find no time to sharpen their ‘axe’. We can sharpen our axe (head, heart, hands and habits) by prayer. Abraham Lincoln once remarked, “If I had six hours to cut down trees, I would spend the first three hours sharpening my axe and the last three cutting down the trees.”

“If your axe is blunt and you don’t sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is more sensible to plan ahead” {Ecclesiastes 10: 10}.

© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India. For more moral stories, parables and anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and preachers, kindly visit my web-site: http://www.moralstorieschristian.blogspot.com

A Christmas Gift

>> 14 December 2011

St. Jerome (347-420) was a Dalmatian priest, a great scholar and a Doctor of the Church. He prepared the ‘Vulgate’- the first authentic translation of the Bible into the Latin language. He was staying in a cave in Bethlehem, close to the birth-place of Jesus.

On a Christmas night, he was meditating about the birth of Jesus and wondering what gift he could give to Jesus. Suddenly, he had a vision. Baby Jesus appeared before him in the midst of a brilliant and dazzling light and asked him, “Jerome, what will you give me for my birthday?”

St. Jerome replied in ecstasy, “O Divine Infant, I give you my heart.”
“Yes, but give me something more,”Jesus requested.

“I give you all the prayers and affection of my heart”, replied the saint.
The Holy Child asked for more and more.

Finally, St. Jerome said, “I will give you all that I have and all that I am.”
Still, Jesus wanted more.

Now Jerome had no answer. So he asked, “O Divine Infant, I have nothing more. What is it that I can give you?”

Baby Jesus replied, with a smile on his lips, “Jerome, give me your sins.”

Quite perplexed, St. Jerome enquired, “What will you do with my sins, my Lord?”

“Give me your sins, so that I may pardon all of them,” replied Jesus.

Hearing this, he wept, out of joy and love for the loving Jesus.

Jesus came to this world to wash away our sins by His precious blood. “Indeed, according to the Law, everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out” {Hebrews 9: 22}.

Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” {John 1: 29}. The incarnation of Jesus is the deepest expression of God’s compassionate love for the sinful mankind.

Sin resembles quicksand, the bed of loose sand and mud in a marshy land which sucks down any object from its surface. A person sinking in a quicksand is dragged down into it and cannot come out of it by his own effort. Similarly, man cannot save himself from the clutches of sin. Jesus is the only person who can deliver us from the quicksand of sin.

By His sacred sacrifice on the Holy Cross at calvary, the sacrament of salvation, He broke the power of death, sin and Satan. He bore the burden of our sins on the Cross and washed away our sins by shedding even the last drop of His Holy Blood.

“…the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from every sin” {1 John 1:7}. “For by the sacrificial death of Christ, we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven” {Ephesians 1:7}.

© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India. For more moral stories, parables and anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and preachers, kindly visit my web-site: http://www.moralstorieschristian.blogspot.com

A PRICELESS PORTRAIT

>> 07 December 2011

A rich man had a passion for collecting great works of art. He had a huge collection of exquisite and expensive paintings created by world-renowned painters. Everyone envied his priceless collection. He had an only son whom he loved more than anything. His wife died during the child’s birth and a loving nurse looked after the boy during his infancy. But the boy died young. The man made a fine portrait of his only son which he preserved as a treasure. Before the rich man died, he prepared a will and entrusted his faithful lawyer to execute it.

The lawyer announced the auction of the rich man’s possessions. A huge crowd had gathered, anxious to bid for the famous paintings at the lowest possible price. The lawyer announced that as per the will, the first article to be bid was the portrait of the rich man’s only son. There was a silence. Only one person - an old woman dressed in shabby clothes came forward to bid for the son’s portrait. She was the boy’s nurse from his infancy and wanted to keep the picture as a mark of her affection to the child. As she was very poor, she could offer only a small sum of money. But as there was no one to bid for a higher amount, she was declared to have won the bid.

The crowd made a loud demand to start the bid of the expensive paintings. But then, to the surprise of everyone, the lawyer declared that the auction was over. He then read aloud a secret stipulation in the will of the rich man, “Whoever comes forward and wins in the bid to possess the portrait of my beloved son shall be declared as the legal owner of all my possessions.” Thus the poor, loving lady became the legal heir to the whole assets of the rich man.

Here we see that the one who accepted the son got the Father’s entire assets. It illustrates the infinite riches we inherit from our heavenly Father when we are ready to accept Jesus, His only Son, into our hearts. We then gain entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die, but have eternal life” {John 3:16}.

“God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in His Son. Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I am writing this to you so that you may know that you have eternal life - you that believe in the Son of God” {1 John 5:11-13}.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God, who did not even keep back His own Son, but offered Him for us all! He gave us His Son - will He not also freely give us all things?” {Romans 8:32}.