Saturday, December 09, 2006
Friday08.12.06There is a story of an old man who always carried
a little can of oil with him everywhere he went.
Whenever he went through a door that creaked/squeaked,
he would squirt a little oil on the hinges.
If he encountered a gate that was hard to open,
he would oil the latch.
And so the elderly man went through life,
oiling all the difficult places he went through.
People called him eccentric, strange, and crazy,
pitying him, scorning him and making fun of him.
Still, he went steadily on,
refulling his little can of oil when it was nearly empty,
lubricating all the difficult places he came across
(and some that didn't seem difficult -
a little extra oil never hurt)
and thus making it easier for all those who came after him.
In this world, there are so many lives that painfully creak and grate as they go about their daily routines. Often it seems that nothing is going right, and we all simply groan painfully under the weight of life in this world, the weight that just weighs down more and more on each person's shoulders, making it harder and harder for them to lift their heads up and continue to meet life with hope and optimism each day.
And yet, almost just as often, all these creaky lives need is a little lubricating with the oil of joy, care and hope.
Do you carry your own oil with you? Are you ready with your oil of cheerfulness, helpfulness or thoughtfulness each morning? If you offer your oil to the person painfully creaking along right next to you, it may just lubricate the entire day for him, even if it didn't seem like he was in need of it at that moment. Your oil of cheerfulness will mean more than you ever realise to someone who is downhearted. Or the oil may be a word of encouragement to a person who is full of despair. Never fail to speak that little word, to do that little something, to give your little bit of oil. Our lives may touch others' only once on the road of life, and then our paths may diverge, never to meet again.
The question is, what did that little touch mean to that person as he goes on with his life, and you with yours?
Did you cast out your own bright ray of sunshine in brave defiance of the gloomy dark enveloping so much of this world?
Posted by nayrakroarual at 12:33 AM
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