A very poor newly wedded, young couple
lived in a small farm. One day the
husband made the following
proposal to his wife:
Honey, I will leave the house: I will travel
faraway, get a job and work hard in order
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 away, you should be faithful to
me, because I will be faithful to you. His
wife agreed, 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 offered his services.
He was accepted. Therefore he discussed
the terms with his boss:
Let me work for as long as I want and
when I think I should go home, please
relieve me of my duties. I do not want to
receive my salary. I ask you to save it for
me, until the day I leave. The day I
decide to go, please give me the money
and I will go my way. They agreed on
that. So, the young man worked for
twenty years without holiday and without
rest.
After twenty years, he came to his boss
and said: Boss, I want my money, because
I am returning to my home.
The boss replied: All right, after all, I
made a deal with you and I will stick to it.
However, before you go I want to
offer you something new: I will give you
all your money and
send you away; or I will give you 3 pieces
of advice and send you away. If I give you
money, you lose the 3 pieces of advice. If
I give you the 3 pieces of advice, you lose
the money. Now, go to your room and
think about your answer. He thought for
two days. Then he went to the boss and
told him: I want the 3 pieces of advice.
The boss stressed again, if I give you the
3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the
money, and the man replied: I want the 3
pieces of advice. The boss then told him:
No. 1: Never take shortcuts in your life,
shorter and unknown paths can cost your
life.
No. 2: Never be too curious, for curiosity
towards evil can be deadly.
No.3: Never make decisions in moments
of anger or pain, because when you
repent, it could be too late.
After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the
boss
said to him: Here, you have 3 loaves of
bread, 2 are for you
to eat during the journey and the last is
for you to eat with
your wife when you get home. So, the
man went his way, after twenty years
away from home and from his wife,
whom he loved so much. After the first
day of travel, he found a man who
greeted him and asked: Where are you
going? He replied: To a distant place
which is about 20 days away if I continue
walking. The man said to him: OH' boy,
this path is too long! I know a shortcut
that is very safe and you will arrive in 5
days only. The man began to follow the
path suggested until he remembered the
first piece of advice. Then, he returned
and followed the long path. Days
later he learned that the shortcut led to
an ambush. After a few more days of
travel, he found an inn by the roadside,
where he could rest. He paid for a room
and after taking a bath he lay down to
sleep. During the night he woke up as he
heard a terrifying scream. He rose to his
feet and went to the door to check what
happened. As he was opening the
door, he remembered the second piece
of advice. Therefore he returned, lay
down again and slept. At dawn, after
breakfast, the owner of the lodging asked
him if he had not heard the scream at
night. He affirmed that he heard. Then,
the host said: Were you not curious to
see what happened?
And he replied: No, I was not. Then the
host said: You are the first guest to leave
this inn alive. My neighbour is completely
crazy. He usually shouts at night to call
someone’s attention. When some of the
guests come out, he kills them and buries
their bodies in the backyard. The man
continue his long journey, eager to arrive
soon.
After many days and nights walking, he
was very tired, but he finally saw his
house far away. It was night. He saw
some light coming out of the window of
his house and was able to see the
silhouette of his wife. But he also saw
that she was not alone. He came closer
and saw there was a man with her. She
softly caressed his hair. When he saw that
scene, his heart was filled with hatred
and bitterness. He decided to rush at and
kill them both mercilessly. However, he
took a deep breath and he remembered
the third piece of advice. Then he
stopped, reflected and decided to sleep
outside that night. He slept in the midst
of the bushes, determined to make a
decision the next day. At dawn, he was
calmer and thought: I will not kill my wife
and her lover. I am going back to my boss
to ask him to take me back. But before I
go, I want to tell my wife that I have
always been faithful to her. He went to
the front door and knocked. When his
wife opened the door and recognized
him, she cried and embraced him warmly.
He tried to push her away, but he was
not able. Then, with tears in his eyes he
told her: I was faithful to you but you
betrayed me. She was shocked, so she
replied: How did I betray you? I have
never betrayed you. I waited patiently for
you for twenty good years. Then he
asked: How about the man that you were
caressing yesterday? And she said:
That man is your son. When you left, I
discovered I was pregnant. Today he is
twenty years old.
Hearing that, the man asked her
forgiveness. He met and
hugged his son. Then he told them all the
things he had experienced while away.
Meanwhile, his wife prepared some
coffee for them to eat together, the last
bread given by his boss. After a prayer of
thanksgiving, he broke the bread. When
he looked at it, he found all his money
inside. In fact, there was even more than
the right payment for his
twenty years of dedication and hard work.
Friends, our God is like this boss. When
he asks us to make a sacrifice, he wants to
give us more than what we give Him. He
wants us to have His unique wisdom as
well as the material blessings.
Hope you learnt something new from this story.
Remain blessed.
