The Boy and the Fence: Ten Stories

[masumeh]

The Boy and the Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told
him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned
to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He
discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence... Finally the
day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father
suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were
gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well,
my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say
things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it
out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound
is as bad as a physical one.

Moral of The Story

Watch your tongue. it is like a knife, always leaves a trace.
Unknown Author

[masumeh]

The house of 1000 Mirrors

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A
small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit.
When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked
through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his
great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging
just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as
warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will
come back and visit it often."
In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to
visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door.
When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and
was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself,
"That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."
Moral Of the Story
All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the
people you meet?
unkown Author

[masumeh]

Parable Of The Pencil

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.
"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world.
Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."
"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in
Someone's hand."
"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a
better pencil."
"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."
"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."
"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the
condition, you must continue to write."
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its
heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and
you will become the best person you can be.
One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's
hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various
problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.
Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.
And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the
situation, you must continue to do your duties.

Moral of the Story

Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and
only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.
Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make
a change.
Unknown Author.

[masumeh]

What is Happiness

How do you define Happiness

I am in desperate need of help -- or I'll go crazy. We're living in a single room -- my wife, my
children and my in-laws. So our nerves are on edge, we yell and scream at one another. The
room is a hell."
"Do you promise to do whatever I tell you?" said the Master gravely.
"I swear I shall do anything."
"Very well. How many animals do you have?"
"A cow, a goat and six chickens."
"Take them all into the room with you. Then come back after a week."
The disciple was appalled. But he had promised to obey! So he took the animals in. A week
later he came back, a pitiable figure, moaning, "I'm a nervous wreck. The dirt! The stench! The
noise! We're all on the verge of madness!"
"Go back," said the Master, "and put the animals out."
The man ran all the way home. And came back the following day, his eyes sparkling with joy.
"How sweet life is! The animals are out. The home is a Paradise, so quiet and clean and
roomy!"
Author : Anthony de Mello, SJ

[masumeh]

The Carpenter's House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave
the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended
family.
He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was
sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal
favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work.
He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to
end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor
handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house, " he said, "my gift to you."
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would
have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put
up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a
shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we
have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Moral of the Story

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place
a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely.
It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves
to be lived graciously and with dignity.
The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your life tomorrow will be the
result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
Unknown Author

[masumeh]

The $20 Bill lesson

A Short story about value

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he
asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this
$20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "what
if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a
very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not
decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.

Moral Of the Story

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions
we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But
no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value

[masumeh]

The Two Brothers

Two brothers worked together on the family farm. One was married and had a large family. The
other was single. At the day's end, the brothers shared everything equally, produce and profit.
Then one day the single brother said to himself, "It's not right that we should share equally the
produce and the profit. I'm alone and my needs are simple." So each night he took a sack of
grain from his bin and crept across the field between their houses, dumping it into his brother's
bin.
Meanwhile, the married brother said to himself, "Its not right that we should
share the produce and the profit equally.
After all, I'm married and I have my wife and my children to look after me in years to come. My
brother has no one, and no one to take care of his future." So each night, he took a sack of
grain and dumped it into his single brother's bin.
Both men were puzzled for years because their supply of grain never dwindled. Then one dark
night the two brothers bumped into each other. Slowly it dawned on them what was
happening. They dropped their sacks and embraced one another.

[masumeh]

The Old Fisherman -True Story

This is one of the true inspiring stories . It is about an old fisherman who came to a city for
medical treatment and couldn't find a place where to spend a night.

Story begins:

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic eentrance of John Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out patients at the clinic.
One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a
truly awful looking man. Why, he's hardly taller than my eight-year-old, I thought as I stared at
the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face--lopsided from swelling, red
and raw. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I've come to see if you've a
room for just one night.
I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus 'til morning." He
told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have
a room. "I guess it's my face...I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more
treatments..." For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: "I could sleep in this
rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning."
I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting
supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us.
"No thank you. I have plenty." And he held up a brown paper bag. When I had finished the
dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time to see
that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a
living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled
from a back injury. He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was
preface with a thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his
disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the
strength to keep going.
At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the morning, the
bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast,
but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, "Could I please
come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine
in a chair." He paused a moment and then added, "Your children made me feel at home.
Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind." I told him he was
welcome to come again.
On his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and
a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning
before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. and I wondered
what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.
In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us
fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.
Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters
packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he
must walk three miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts
doubly precious.
When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door
neighbor made after he left that first morning.
"Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by
putting up such people!" Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh! If only they could
have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.
I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to
accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God. Author Unknown

[masumeh]

How Many Bridges can You build?

The Bridge -Story Once upon a time two brothers who lived on adjoining farms
fell into conflict.
It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading
labor and goods as needed without a hitch.
Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into
a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of
silence.
One morning there was a knock on John’s door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s
toolbox. “I’m looking for a few days work” he said.
“Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with? Could I help you?”
“Yes,” said the older brother. “I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That’s
my neighbor, in fact, it’s my younger brother.
Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and
now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I’ll go him one
better. See that pile of lumber by the barn?
I want you to build me a fence - - an 8-foot fence — so I won’t need to see his place or his face
anymore.”
The carpenter said, “I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post hole
digger and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.”
The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and
then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing,
and hammering. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his
job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all.
It was a bridge — a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of
work handrails and all — and the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand
outstretched.
“You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”
The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each
other’s hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder.
“No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other projects for you,” said the older brother.
“I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but, I have many more bridges to build.”

[masumeh]

DON’T WE ALL NEED IT

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just
come from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. Coming my way from
across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum.
From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There are
times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don't want to be bothered.
This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times."
"I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. He didn't. He came and sat on the curb in
front of the bus stop but he didn't look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus.
After a few minutes he spoke. "That's a very pretty car," he said. He was ragged but he had an
air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond beard keep more than his face warm.
I said, "thanks," and continued wiping off my car.
He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never came. As the silence
between us widened something inside said, "ask him if he needs any help." I was sure that he
would say "yes" but I held true to the inner voice. "Do you need any help?" I asked.
He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget. We often look for
wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of higher learning and
accomplishments.
I expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me.
"Don't we all?" he said.
I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum in the street, until those
three words hit me like a twelve gauge shotgun.
Don't we all?
I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I reached in my
wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter
for the day. Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter
how much you have accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you have, no matter
how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.
Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that. You never know when you may see someone
that appears to have it all. They are waiting on you to give them what they don't have. A
different perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from daily chaos, that
only you through a torn world can see. Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger
wandering the streets. Maybe he was more than that.
Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in
themselves.
Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, then said, "go minister to
that man cleaning the car, that man needs help."
Don't we all?
Author Unknown