More Parables
Water Bearer
A man used two large buckets to carry water to his house from a nearby stream. Every day, he hung the buckets on either end of a pole, and balanced the pole across the back of his neck as he walked home. One of the buckets was cracked on one side, but the other bucket was perfect and unbroken. At the end of the long walk from the stream to his house, the cracked bucket always arrived only half full. The perfect bucket was proud to deliver the most water it could hold, but the poor cracked bucket was ashamed of its imperfection and miserable that it was broken.
For two years this went on daily, with the man carrying one and a half buckets of water to his home. Finally, the broken bucket, after enduring two years of shame, spoke to the water bearer as he filled it in the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself and I apologize to you," it said.
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"For these past two years, I delivered only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. You have to do all of this work, and I only give you half of the water I should."
The man smiled, and told the bucket to look at the path as he carried water back to his house.
As they went up the hill, the cracked bucket noticed a trail of beautiful wild flowers. At the end of the trail, it still felt ashamed because it had leaked half of its water. It apologized again to the man, but the man shook his head and laughed.
"Did you not notice that there were flowers only on one side of the path?" He asked. "I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. You water my flowers each time I walk back from the stream."
And the cracked bucket decided that beautiful flowers and half a bucket of water was nothing to be ashamed of.
The Missing Money
A man lost some money he had hidden in his closet. He suspected that his neighbor's son stole the money. He observed the boy, and noticed that the the boy's mannerisms, speech, and attitude all betrayed his crime. That night, the man discovered he had just misplaced the money. The next day, nothing about the boy's behavior nor appearance suggested that he had stolen the money.
A man used two large buckets to carry water to his house from a nearby stream. Every day, he hung the buckets on either end of a pole, and balanced the pole across the back of his neck as he walked home. One of the buckets was cracked on one side, but the other bucket was perfect and unbroken. At the end of the long walk from the stream to his house, the cracked bucket always arrived only half full. The perfect bucket was proud to deliver the most water it could hold, but the poor cracked bucket was ashamed of its imperfection and miserable that it was broken.
For two years this went on daily, with the man carrying one and a half buckets of water to his home. Finally, the broken bucket, after enduring two years of shame, spoke to the water bearer as he filled it in the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself and I apologize to you," it said.
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"For these past two years, I delivered only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. You have to do all of this work, and I only give you half of the water I should."
The man smiled, and told the bucket to look at the path as he carried water back to his house.
As they went up the hill, the cracked bucket noticed a trail of beautiful wild flowers. At the end of the trail, it still felt ashamed because it had leaked half of its water. It apologized again to the man, but the man shook his head and laughed.
"Did you not notice that there were flowers only on one side of the path?" He asked. "I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. You water my flowers each time I walk back from the stream."
And the cracked bucket decided that beautiful flowers and half a bucket of water was nothing to be ashamed of.
The Missing Money
A man lost some money he had hidden in his closet. He suspected that his neighbor's son stole the money. He observed the boy, and noticed that the the boy's mannerisms, speech, and attitude all betrayed his crime. That night, the man discovered he had just misplaced the money. The next day, nothing about the boy's behavior nor appearance suggested that he had stolen the money.