Sunday, February 08, 2009

Very wise words.

Beating Sorrow
by Wei Ling from Singapore...

There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to the holy man and asked, "What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?"

Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, "Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life." The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.

She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, "I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me."

They told her, "You've certainly come to the wrong place," and began to describe all the tragic things that recently had befallen them.

The woman said to herself, "Who is better able to help these unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortune of my own?"

She stayed to comfort them, then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hotels, in cities, in villages small and large and throughout the land, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune.

The woman became so involved in helping others cope with their sorrows that she eventually let go of her own. She would later come to understand that it was the quest to find the magical mustard seed that drove away her suffering.

Reminding you that we all have pain and sorrow. This is part of the Divine plan to help us grow and channel our energy into helping others. Received this from Rex Barker's e-mails.

17 comments:

Renie Burghardt said...

Good morning, Patty,

Those are certainly wise words from Rex Barker.

I am looking forward to going to church this morning and lunch with church friends, and putting some normalcy back into my life. There is still an enormous amount of clean up to do around here, but with time, it will get done. The weather has turned very spring-like. It's already 60 degrees early in the morning. The past ten days have been very hard on me, but I made it, although I am still very tired. Thank you for your visits, and well wishes during this ordeal. Have a wonderful Sunday and God bless!

Hugs and blessings,

Renie

Leslie said...

Oh, How true!

I like your new look something about brown is very soothing to me. Sorry, if I mispelled soothing ! I am sorry you lost your rewards.

It is 58 degrees here this morning. I hope you warm up soon.

Hugs~~~~Leslie

Marian Dean said...

A wonderful lesson on life. Only by giving can we rejoice in receiving.
Love Granny

Anonymous said...

Well, now people can offer you new rewards. Your blog looks neat as a pin now. I liked it last night and still like it this morning. I also liked the piece you wrote about sorrow this morning.

Reader Wil said...

Patty, this is absolutely true. Some people pretend to lead a perfectly spotless and happy life, but if you dig deeper in their lives you'll discover that they have to deal with very great sorrows. Everybody gets some sad events to deal with. Fortunately we comfort each other most of the time.

Melinda said...

I also love the new look mom!

Vinisha said...

Hey That's a beautiful story indeed. :)

And I love the blog makeover. Love the header too :)

Brenda said...

Good message in the story. I love your new look too, but also liked the old look. You have good taste. You must have someone help you with this creation...I see you have blogspot, but I don't know how to customize like this. Very nice! Have a great Sunday!

अविनाश said...

Very good tale with excellent connotation, its factual once we see other sorrow we feel ours is a smaller amount and want to help others.

That was good lesson.

And yes the fresh appearance of the blog is better than preceding. Alteration is excellent. Photographs are pretty.

Regards

DeniseinVA said...

Powerful Patty, something for us all to take into our head and at the same time count our blessings. I am going to pass this on. Like your new look too.

Rinkly Rimes said...

I've heard the message before but this is a powerful allegory (or something!)

Sunny said...

What an inspiring entry you posted, Patty! :)

It's so true...and I love to help others...it does lessen my pain.

Love your new look here! Relaxing colors!

((hugs))

~Judy

Mental P Mama said...

MY DEAR MOTHER GAVE ME A MUSTARD SEED NECKLACE 40 YEARS AGO. I WISH I KNEW WHERE I PUT IT.

Shionge said...

Hey Patty, like the rest I like the new look here too :D

I am glad you got this from the email, Lee Wei Ling is the daughter our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and I love her articles she wrote at our local papers too. She is full of wisdom and humble as a Doctor too.

Femin Susan said...

Hi....
Its a very good tale..... The message of the tale is very powerful..... Thanks for sharing....

raccoonlover1963/Lisa Myers said...

Hi Patty. Thanks for stopping by earlier.
Love the post. Very true.
Have a great week.
Lisa

CINDY BUCKLEY said...

I like this story very much. It's a good reminder. And, side note- I love the photo history on the left!