The two most liberating/redeeming words, are 'Mercy'/'forGive'. Thus, to seek/give forgiveness, are considered to be the most appropriate/demanding words, within a life span. Mercy, is it then 'Make enemy, receive children's yearnings'. The kingdom of God, is compared to a child's heart/mindset, to let go/smile back, after a short / brief pause. Mercy, is reEnforced / reminded by, the trio 'spirits' of Faith-for an intrinsic:intrusive truth hunger:hunt / Hope-holding of positive emotions / Trust-that reliable understanding, solidifying truth. These trios, can be sustained meaningfully by meditation/ humbling prayers. So would Prayer be, Pleadingly reflecting, and yearning eternal radiance. The keys to these locks, only seek an open mind/attitude. Many follow the guidance/doctrine paths.... set and established by a spiritual guide/guru: to mean...awakening of consciousness from ignorance/darkness into consciousness/light. Thus Guru to mean 'Guiding under resonating underStandings:underTakings'
One has a choice, to offer to the broken another chance/ignore ignorantly....reflected well within these stories. Pointing to a seeker to be simply unConditional/nonJudgemental and help shred the ignorance of ego/pride linked to infinite vanity/ unprecedented prejudices.
Purpose of everything, when mercifully translated
"An elderly woman had two large pots, each hung on
the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. 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 walks from the stream
to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For 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 two 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.'
Moral of the Story:
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."
Tools to pick/choose, to be inherently merciful
"In Ancient Greece, Socrates had a great reputation of wisdom. One day, someone came to find the great philosopher and said to him:
- Do you know what I just heard about your friend? - A moment, replied Socrates. Before you tell me, I would like to test you the three sieves.
- The three sieves?
- Yes, continued Socrates. Before telling anything about the others, it's good to take the time to filter what you mean. I call it the test of the three sieves. The first sieve is the TRUTH. Have you checked if what you're going to tell me is true?
- No, I just heard it.
- Very good! So, you don't know if it's true. We continue with the second sieve, that of KINDNESS. What you want to tell me about my friend, is it good?
- Oh, no! On the contrary.
- So, questioned Socrates, you want to tell me bad things about him and you're not even sure they're true? Maybe you can still pass the test of the third sieve, that of UTILITY. Is it useful that I know what you're going to tell me about this friend?
- No, really.
- So, concluded Socrates, what you were going to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor useful. Why, then, did you want to tell me this?
"Gossip is a bad thing. In the beginning it may seem enjoyable and fun, but in the end, it fills our hearts with bitterness and poisons us, too!"
Gossips undresses and shames and leaves innocent people who cannot defend themselves vulnerable. It unclothes human dignity and shames the others unfairly. We kill innocent people with our gossip and bad mouthing… Gossip is the stripping of human dignity by bitter souls."
Focus/Sharpen: Be merciful to self first
"Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.
“Congratulations
,” the boss said. “Go on that way!” Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”
Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever.
Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work.
But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to fulfill our hobbies, giving more time for our family, taking time to read, enhancing our skills, upgrading our knowledge, being aware of our strengths and weaknesses, spending time for our self-development and health etc.
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness."
