One
day, two saints were walking through the countryside. They were on their way to
another village to help bring in the crops. As they walked, they spied an old
woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no
bridge, and she could not get across on her own. The first saint kindly
offered, "We will carry you across if you would like." "Thank
you," she said gratefully, accepting their help. So the two men joined
hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river. When they got
to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.
After
they had walked another mile or so, the second saint began to complain.
"Look at my clothes," he said. "They are filthy from carrying
that woman across the river. And my back still hurts from lifting her. I can
feel it getting stiff." The first saint just smiled and nodded his head.
A
few more miles up the road, the second saint griped again, "My back is
hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman
across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain." The first saint
looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning. "Have you
wondered why I am not complaining?" he asked. "Your back hurts
because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles
ago."
That
is what many of us are like in dealing with our families. We are like that
second saint who cannot let go of the past. We hold the pain of the past over
our loved ones', or we remind them every once in a while, when we want to get
the upper hand, of the burden we still carry because of something they did
years ago.
May the Lord Almighty
help us all to get rid of the bitterness from our hearts.
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