Words to Learn and Live By
The Ten Commandments
The Greatest Commandments
True Wisdom
The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing ~ Socrates
Parable of Two Wolves
Inside me is two wolves. One wolf is full of anger and hate and jealousy. The other is nurturing, compassionate, and protective. They battle with each other constantly. Which one wins?
Whichever one I feed.
Parable of the Butterfly
A boy found a cocoon with a butterfly inside that was starting to emerge.
He watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to get its body through the tiny slit. When it appeared as if the butterfly had gone as far as it could on its own, the boy took out a pocket knife and cut the slit wider. With the boy's help, the butterfly was able to get out of the rest of the cocoon with no effort at all. But when it unrolled its wings, they were shrivelled and small.
He watched the butterfly a while longer, wanting to see it fly and be free, but instead and walked on the ground with its fat body and the wings never grew larger. I would never be able to fly.
Later, the boy asked his father about it, and his father explained that the butterfly needed to struggle and get free on its own. That in doing so, it would have grown strong, and its wings would have fully formed. But in helping the butterfly, the boy had taken that away, and so the butterfly remained week. He explained further that sometimes the struggles in life are just what we need, so we can all grow strong, and not be made weak like the butterfly he wanted to help.
Parable of the Long Spoons:
One day, a man asks God if he can know the difference between Heaven and Hell.
God decides to show the man and brings him to a room with two doors. Behind each, he tells him, is a window into Heaven and Hell. And then he opens the door to Hell and lets the man see.
In Hell there was a long banquet table with a pot of delicious soup. It smells so wonderful the man's mouth begins to water. Around the table were many people. but they were all thin and sickly, and moaned in their hunger. The people were all gifted with long spoons attached to their hands, but the spoons were so long that they could not bring the soup to their mouths to eat.
The man shuddered to see this, and felt great pity for them.
"You have seen Hell," said God. "Now behold Heaven."
God opened the second door and allowed the man to see. Inside was the exact same room, with the same wonderful smelling pot of soup, and people with the same condition of those in Hell. They all had long spoons attached to their hands, and could not get them to their mouths to eat. But all of them were healthy and well fed. The were happy and talking and enjoying their time at the table.
The man did not understand how they could be the same but also so different. He questioned God. "How can they be like this. They are both the same and yet one is happy and the other is misery."
God smiled. "In heaven, the people share and feed one another, but in Hell, they think only of themselves and do not share, thus they cannot eat."
Parable of the Drowning Man:
A severe storm falls on the village of a devout man. The water rises quickly, and soon he is sitting on his roof as the flood waters continue to rise. A man comes by in a canoe.
"Get in," he calls. "The waters are still rising fast."
But the devout man waves him away. "No," he says, "I have faith, the lord will save me."
The man rows on and the waters continue to rise. Soon the man is sitting up higher on his roof as more of his house is submerged. Anothing man zips towards him in a motor boat. "Get in," he pleads. "The water is still rising."
But the devout man waves him on as well. "I believe the Lord will save me, I don't need your help."
Later the man is standing on the pinnacle of his rooftop as the water continues to surge. A rescue copter descends and lowers a rope. But again the man refuses.
"The Lord is my protector. I shall be saved with his help alone."
Finally the man drowns.
He goes to heaven, and sees the lord. Distraught and disappointed, he says to the Lord, "I was devout and had nothing but faith in you, why did you not deliver me from the flood?"
The Lord shakes his head. "What do you mean? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."
Fable of the Donkey
A man and his son were going with their donkey to the market. Along the road they passed a man. The man looked on them scornfully and questioned, "Why do you walk along the road, are donkey's not made for riding?"
So the man put his son on the donkey, and they went on their way.
Later another man came upon them on the road and scolded the son. "You lazy boy, why do you ride when your aged father walks?"
So the boy and the man changed places, but before long a group of women walked by, and one said to the other. "Look at that lazy lout, riding on the donkey while his poor little son has to trudge along."
The man did not know what to do. So he took the boy up onto the donkey with him, and both rode together. As they approached the market, another group of men saw them and scolded, "Look at those two, overloading that poor donkey with their weight. They should be ashamed."
The man and the boy got off, and tried to think of what to do. Finally, they gathered up two poles, and used them to carry the donkey while they walked. People laughed at them as they went by until the two came to a bridge. When they tried to cross, the donkey got one of its feet loose and kicked, causing the boy to drop his pole. The donkey thrashed, and soon it fell over the side of the bridge to its death.
Moral: Trying to please everyone is a road to ruin.
Questions or comments? PM Box
Stories by Pmmg: The Eye of Ebon <--for sale on Amazon!
The Ten Commandments
- I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.
- Honor your father and mother.
- You shall not kill.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
- You shall not covet thy neighbor's wife.
- You shall not covet thy neighbor's goods.
The Greatest Commandments
- You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
- You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
True Wisdom
The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing ~ Socrates
Parable of Two Wolves
Inside me is two wolves. One wolf is full of anger and hate and jealousy. The other is nurturing, compassionate, and protective. They battle with each other constantly. Which one wins?
Whichever one I feed.
Parable of the Butterfly
A boy found a cocoon with a butterfly inside that was starting to emerge.
He watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to get its body through the tiny slit. When it appeared as if the butterfly had gone as far as it could on its own, the boy took out a pocket knife and cut the slit wider. With the boy's help, the butterfly was able to get out of the rest of the cocoon with no effort at all. But when it unrolled its wings, they were shrivelled and small.
He watched the butterfly a while longer, wanting to see it fly and be free, but instead and walked on the ground with its fat body and the wings never grew larger. I would never be able to fly.
Later, the boy asked his father about it, and his father explained that the butterfly needed to struggle and get free on its own. That in doing so, it would have grown strong, and its wings would have fully formed. But in helping the butterfly, the boy had taken that away, and so the butterfly remained week. He explained further that sometimes the struggles in life are just what we need, so we can all grow strong, and not be made weak like the butterfly he wanted to help.
Parable of the Long Spoons:
One day, a man asks God if he can know the difference between Heaven and Hell.
God decides to show the man and brings him to a room with two doors. Behind each, he tells him, is a window into Heaven and Hell. And then he opens the door to Hell and lets the man see.
In Hell there was a long banquet table with a pot of delicious soup. It smells so wonderful the man's mouth begins to water. Around the table were many people. but they were all thin and sickly, and moaned in their hunger. The people were all gifted with long spoons attached to their hands, but the spoons were so long that they could not bring the soup to their mouths to eat.
The man shuddered to see this, and felt great pity for them.
"You have seen Hell," said God. "Now behold Heaven."
God opened the second door and allowed the man to see. Inside was the exact same room, with the same wonderful smelling pot of soup, and people with the same condition of those in Hell. They all had long spoons attached to their hands, and could not get them to their mouths to eat. But all of them were healthy and well fed. The were happy and talking and enjoying their time at the table.
The man did not understand how they could be the same but also so different. He questioned God. "How can they be like this. They are both the same and yet one is happy and the other is misery."
God smiled. "In heaven, the people share and feed one another, but in Hell, they think only of themselves and do not share, thus they cannot eat."
Parable of the Drowning Man:
A severe storm falls on the village of a devout man. The water rises quickly, and soon he is sitting on his roof as the flood waters continue to rise. A man comes by in a canoe.
"Get in," he calls. "The waters are still rising fast."
But the devout man waves him away. "No," he says, "I have faith, the lord will save me."
The man rows on and the waters continue to rise. Soon the man is sitting up higher on his roof as more of his house is submerged. Anothing man zips towards him in a motor boat. "Get in," he pleads. "The water is still rising."
But the devout man waves him on as well. "I believe the Lord will save me, I don't need your help."
Later the man is standing on the pinnacle of his rooftop as the water continues to surge. A rescue copter descends and lowers a rope. But again the man refuses.
"The Lord is my protector. I shall be saved with his help alone."
Finally the man drowns.
He goes to heaven, and sees the lord. Distraught and disappointed, he says to the Lord, "I was devout and had nothing but faith in you, why did you not deliver me from the flood?"
The Lord shakes his head. "What do you mean? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."
Fable of the Donkey
A man and his son were going with their donkey to the market. Along the road they passed a man. The man looked on them scornfully and questioned, "Why do you walk along the road, are donkey's not made for riding?"
So the man put his son on the donkey, and they went on their way.
Later another man came upon them on the road and scolded the son. "You lazy boy, why do you ride when your aged father walks?"
So the boy and the man changed places, but before long a group of women walked by, and one said to the other. "Look at that lazy lout, riding on the donkey while his poor little son has to trudge along."
The man did not know what to do. So he took the boy up onto the donkey with him, and both rode together. As they approached the market, another group of men saw them and scolded, "Look at those two, overloading that poor donkey with their weight. They should be ashamed."
The man and the boy got off, and tried to think of what to do. Finally, they gathered up two poles, and used them to carry the donkey while they walked. People laughed at them as they went by until the two came to a bridge. When they tried to cross, the donkey got one of its feet loose and kicked, causing the boy to drop his pole. The donkey thrashed, and soon it fell over the side of the bridge to its death.
Moral: Trying to please everyone is a road to ruin.
Questions or comments? PM Box
Stories by Pmmg: The Eye of Ebon <--for sale on Amazon!
