How nice and enjoyable it is to have people of all colors, races and backgrounds to be together and feel for each other and even worry about the wellbeing of one another, instead of competing for anything and everything, even the air we breathe!
The conflicts that are taking place across countries in many forms, and the painful confrontations between brothers of the same country, are useless and wasteful, as they are fought sometimes as a result of a power struggle, killing many young and old people, though they could be resolved with common sense and civil communications, instead of letting man’s love of power destroy everything! I would like to share a story that I read earlier that shows how good it is to be constructive rather than destructive.
Legend has it that a tailor decided to teach his grandson wisdom using his own way. The tailor picked his relatively-expensive pair of scissors and started to cut a large piece of cloth into several smaller ones. He then dropped his expensive scissors on the floor by his feet and picked a small needle and started to stitch the small pieces together into a very nice shirt. When he finished, he stuck his needle in the turban he was wearing on his head.
The grandson – who kept a close eye on what his grandfather was doing – could not keep silent and asked him: Why did you throw the expensive pair of scissors unceremoniously on the ground, and placed the cheap needle in your turban? The grandfather answered: The scissors cut the cloth into pieces, while the needle brought them back together in the form of a beautiful shirt.
He asked his grandson to be one who brings people together, not one who creates rifts among them. It is not necessary to be the best, but if someone has a problem, you should listen, and if one comes to apologize to you – forgive, and if a friend asks for a favor – help. Even if you harvest thorns in return, it is enough that you planted roses.
This is a great advice that we all must have the attitude to follow, and then see how peaceful and productive we all will be. Finally: “Forgiveness is not about letting someone off the hook for their actions, but freeing ourselves of negative energies that bind us to them.” —Satsuki Shibuya
