5 Fingers and Thumbs

Fingers and thumbs

There once was a hand whose fingers were great friends. The owner had a dangerous job working with very sharp knives, and despite the care he took, of his fingers, the thumb kept getting all the worst of it. It was continually bruised and cut. At first, the other fingers asked the thumb's forgiveness for their clumsiness, and the thumb did indeed forgive them. However, this happened so many times, that one day, the thumb decided it had had enough and was going to forgive them no more. He stretched himself away from the fingers and wanted nothing to do with them.

The thumb looked dignified, straight, rigid and proud. However, that kind of position was forced and looked ridiculous. The owner of the hand had to keep it in his pocket out of sight. There the thumb and the rest of the fingers suffered in darkness and obscurity. At last, the thumb understood that it had not all been the fault of the fingers. There had been times when he had got in the way causing the fingers to be cut also. 

So, the thumb asked the fingers for forgiveness, fearful that being rejected and alone he would become useless. The fingers forgave him, because better than anyone they knew that they were all to blame and that everybody makes mistakes at some point. No one is ever perfect they knew that. 

So, friends once again, all five of them worked together.  Before long they were all back out in the light aware that the only way to be happy was to forgive each other, thus avoiding the gloomy depressing prospect of doing nothing and being unhappy.

It seems much easier to hold a grudge than to forgive, but in reality, it is better to forgive than to burden ourselves with hate and bad feelings.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

24 The Examination

The Examination Prior to the examination, the professor gave some instructions where had stated that at the end of the examination each student was to sign a form stating that they had received no external assistance.  No bits of paper or notes had been brought into the examination.  One student, unsure whether he should sign the form stated to the professor he had prayed to god for assistance.  The professor took the examination paper from the student and studied briefly his answers.  He then turned to the student and said, "You can sign it with a clear conscience. God did not assist you with this examination."
Read more

27 I Lost Two Pounds

I Lost Two Pounds Once a married couple while visiting their friends were taken to a day at the races. They found the whole experience an amazing day out. They had a few bets on the various races and lost some of the little money they had, leaving him only two pounds in his pocket. Next day the husband said that he would go to the races alone. In the first race, he put two pounds on the outsider, and the horse came first. He put all his winnings on the next race and won again. That day, he was very lucky; by the end of his day, he had won about £1000. On the way home, he saw a casino. The inner voice, the one he had been listening to all day as he wondered what horse to gamble said to him, " Come in and play."  He entered the casino where he saw people playing all sorts of gambling games. he went to the roulette table and placed some money on number 13. When the roulette stopped, the dealer announced: "Number 14." He gambled a few more t...
Read more

30 A Little Pea

A Little Pea The King of Benares was out on a hunting trip with his wise counsellor.  They stopped to feed their horses some peas.  Suddenly a young monkey darted down a tree and scooped a huge handful of peas out of the feeding trough. Halfway back up the tree one pea fell from the monkey's furry hands and, in a desperate attempt to catch it, the monkey dropped all the peas he was carrying. Peas scattered on the ground and the horses ate them.  The monkey climbed back up the tree empty-handed and sat sadly on a branch.  The King and his wise counsellor watched this episode with amusement.  The counsellor chuckled, "Great King, when far too greedy you be, remember that monkey and the pea."
Read more