a fable with two morals
 A
sparrow was caught unsheltered in a blizzard.
Beaten and frozen by the storm, the little bird
fell to the ground, nearly dead.
After the storm, a farmer driving
his cows through the field spotted the sparrow
on the ground. The kindly farmer picked the bird
up, pressed its frozen little body deep into a
fresh, steaming cowpie, and continued on his way.
The moist heat of the cowpie
soon revived the little bird who, in her joy at
finding herself alive and warm, burst into song.
A fox hunting nearby heard the sparrow singing,
and, following the sound, found the sparrow, snatched
her up from the cowpie, and ate her in one bite.
The morals of this story:
- Every now and then you
may find yourself in a world of shit, but the
one who put you there is not necessarily an
enemy, and the one who takes you out is not
necessarily a friend.
- When
you are up to your
nose in shit, it's
a real good time to
keep your mouth shut.
 
The rain fell, the
waters rose, and the river overflowed it's banks.
Homes flooded and families began to evacuate. One
man stopped at his neighbors house to offer aid. "Neighbor," he
cried, "the waters are rising! Bring your family
into my truck and I will take you to safety."
"No," replied his neighbor, "I
will not go, for I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and He shall protect me and my family."
The rain still fell and the waters
still rose. Soon the man and his family had to
go to the second floor of the house to escape the
water. An Emergency Rescue crew found the family,
and said "The waters still rise. Get into our boat
and we will take you to safety."
"No," said the man, "My faith
is strong! God shall protect me and my family and
we shall come to no harm."
The rain would not stop. The
waters rushed higher. As the man and his family
clung to the roof of their house a helicopter rescue
team flew over and dropped them a ladder. Again
the man refused. "I do not fear! I believe in God,
and he shall protect us. We will not go."
The entire family drowned.
The man, who, in life, had been
a goodly man, found himself before God. "God!" the
man sobbed, "I believed in you, and trusted you
to protect me and my family. How could you just
let us die like that? Why did you not save us?"
And God replied: "I
sent a truck, a boat, and a helicopter - what exactly
were you waiting for?"
There was a woman who
spent her days in good works - she nurtured her family,
lived in friendship with her neighbors, and labored
endlessly in easing the suffering of those less fortunate.
She was content with her life except for one thing. 
"God," she prayed, "There
is so much poverty in this world. If you would
let me win the Lottery, just once, I would ask
for nothing more. I would feed the hungry and
clothe the homeless and do many good deeds with
the money."
She lived her life as she always
had, and often repeated her prayer, but she never
won the Lottery.
When she died and stood before
God she dared to ask, "Lord, I never wanted the
money for selfish things. I could have done much
good in the world if you had allowed me to win
the Lottery, why would you not let me?"
And God replied: "You should
have bought a ticket."
King Thordor stood
defiantly on the prow of his tiny ship. With his
gaze fixed on the score of ships sent to ensure his
destruction, he let out a battle cry that struck
mortal fear in the hearts of his enemies while stirring
his rag-tag crew to fight as if God himself were
on their side..."LET NO MAN SAY KING THORDOR FEARS
DEATH!"
 With
that, he drew his sword from its scabbard and sounded
the attack. Within moments he and his crew were
cut to tiny bits.
A water bearer in India
had two large pots, each hung on one end of a pole
which he carried across his neck. One of the pots
had a crack in it, and 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 master's
house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went
on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and
a half pots full of water to his master's house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments,
perfect to the end for which it was made. But the
poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection,
and miserable that it was able to accomplish only
half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived
to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer
one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself,
and I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What
are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these
past two years, to deliver only half my load because
this crack in my side causes water to leak out
all the way back to your master's house.  Because
of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and
you don't get full value from your efforts," the
pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for
the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As
we return to the master's house, I want you to
notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill,
the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming
the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path,
and this cheered it some. But at the end of the
trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked
out half its load, and so again it apologized to
the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the
pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers
only on your side of your path, but not on the
other pot's side? That's because I have always
known about your flaw, and I took advantage of
it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the
path, and every day while we walk back from the
stream, you've watered them. For two years I
have been able to pick these beautiful flowers
to decorate my master's table. Without you being
just the way you are, he would not have this
beauty to grace his house."
NOTE: I had read
a version of this years ago that had been attributed
to Mother Theresa. I have now been made aware that
the original text was written by Dr. Keith and the
text I found was an adaptation.
They are inspirational words, regardless who said
them first - here is the original text and link to
their web site:
The
Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable,
and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will
accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you
win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will
be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make
you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with
the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest
men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but
follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building
may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but
may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you
have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
© Copyright Kent M. Keith
1968, renewed 2001
The
previously published adaptation . . .basically
the same words, but edited to flow in a
slightly more spiritual tone (my opinion):
People are often unreasonable,
illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People
may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
You will win some false friends and some
true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and
frank, People may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years
building, Someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity
and happiness, There may be jealousy;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
People will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best
you have, And it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see in the final
analysis, It is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
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