Today is Wednesday, April 8th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1543
Recently our congregation's minister assigned some of us in leadership positions to each read a book. Mine is titled "Love Talk" by Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott.
While the book is about learning to speak one another's language in a marriage relationship, the story below gives any reader something to think about:
"There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to a holy man and asked, 'What magical incantations do yo have to bring my son back to life?' Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, 'Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.'
The woman set off at once in search of that magical mustard seed. She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, 'I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me.' They told her, 'You've certainly come to the wrong place,' and began to describe all the tragic things that had recently befallen them. The woman said to herself, 'Who is better able to help these poor unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortune of my own?' She stayed to comfort them, then went on in her search for a home that had never known sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hovels and palaces, she found one report after another of sadness and misfortune. Ultimately, the woman became so involved in ministering to other people's grief that she forgot about her quest for the mgical mustand seed, never realizing it had in fact driven the sorrow out of her life."
The authors continued with their thought, "Once you make the choice to rise about your self-pity, once you give up on a magical cure for your conditions, you will find youself with an entirely new outlook on life and love."
In any relationship, "you will see that it is not only about getting your own needs met, but about meeting the needs".....of another person.......mate, friend, child, parent.....you fill in the blank.
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