REFLECTIONS ON LIFE

A university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, “Yes, he did!” “God created everything? The professor asked. “Yes sir”, the student replied. The professor answered, “If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil”. The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth. Another student raised his hand and said, “Can I ask you a question professor?” “Of course”, replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?” “What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?” The students snickered at the young man’s question. The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the l

It was the annual lumberjack competition, and after days of chopping, sawing, and tree climbing, only two competitors remained so  the final was between an older, experienced lumberjack and a strong fellow about twenty years, his junior .  The rule of the competition was quite simply who could fell the most trees in eight hours would be the winner. The younger lumberjack was full of enthusiasm and went off into the wood and set to work straight away. He worked all through the day, barely taking time to catch his breath or to grab some food and water.  As he worked, he could hear the older lumberjack working in another part of the forest and he felt more and more confident with every tree he felled that he would win. At regular intervals throughout the day, the noise of trees being felled coming from the other part of the forest would stop. The younger lumberjack took heart from this, knowing that this meant the older lumberjack was taking a rest, whereas he could use his su

A true story, happened in 1892 at Stanford University: An 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. He and a friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck and the boys began to work to make the concert a success. The big day arrived. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour the cheque at the soonest possible. “No,” said Paderewski. “This is not acceptable.” He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys: “Here’s the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses

A viral video online shows a college teacher conducting an exercise with his students in a schoolyard. They were going to have a race where the winner would get $100. But the teacher had in store more than a contest of athletics—he had a profound message they would likely remember for the rest of their lives. The students lined up on the field as the teacher explained that they were about to have a race, and, to liven things up, the winner would get a $100 bill. It was to be no ordinary race where everyone starts on the same mark, however; it was to be set up the same way  life  is set up. Before they began, the teacher decided to make a few statements. He instructed students to take two steps forward if those statements applied to them and, and if not, they were to stay where they were. He told them: “Take two steps forward if both of your parents are still married.” While a large number of students stepped forward, some remained on the starting line. The teac

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment. The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judg

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 all 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" 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

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 he thought "I've worked a lot of time with this man and he still asks me for favours", so 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

I got home one night and, as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said,  “I want a divorce.”  She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words. Instead, she softly asked me why. I avoided the question, and this made her angry. She threw down the chopsticks and shouted, “You are not a man!” We didn’t talk to each other that night. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage, but I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to my lover. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her! With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement stating that she could keep the house, the car, and a 30% share of my company. She glanced at it and tore it to pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy, but I could not take back what I had said. She finally cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see in the first place

A couple of young newlyweds was very poor and lived in a small farm. The farmer was very hardworking, but he realised that what he earn wasn't enough to start a family which was one of his dreams so one day the husband made the following proposal to his wife: - Honey, I would like to give you this money, it is all I have saved, I trust you but I will leave the house: I will travel faraway, get a job and work hard in order to be able to come back and give you the comfortable life that you deserve. I do not know how long I will stay away… I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am out, you should be faithful to me, because I will be faithful to you. So the young man left.  He walked many days until he found a farmer who was in need of someone to help him. The young man came and offered his services. He was accepted! Therefore he discussed the terms with his boss who was a wiseman: - Let me work for as long as I want and, when I think I should go home