The Magic Castle

Vernon Howard tells the story of a weary traveler in his tale The Magic Castle. 

Walking down a dark road, the man is surprised to see a marvelous castle before him. Across its gate is a banner welcoming everyone. The traveler is glad to see this for he is weary.

Passing through the open gate, a strange sight greets him. A number of men and women walk toward the castle, but do not seem to see it. Perplexed, he enters the castle and asks someone about the strange behavior of the people outside. 

The castle resident answers, “This is a magic castle. It can be seen only by those who realize and admit that they are lost. Those who pretend to know where they are going cannot see the castle. Your honesty in admitting that you are weary and in in need of a shelter for the night made the castle visible to you. Enter, for all its riches are now yours.”

Reflection: 

We too are in a journey. There is no harm in feeling confident that we know the way to our destination, but let us not delude ourselves that we can get there on our own. It is only when we acknowledge that we need God’s help that we will see the castle and the riches that awaits us within.

The Importance of Prayer

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm in the sea. And only two men were able to swim to a small, deserted island. The two survivors not knowing what else to do agree that they had no other resources but to pray to God.  

However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island. 

The first thing the first man prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land. And he was able to eat its fruit. The other man’s parcel of land remained barren. After a week, the first man was lonely and decided to pray for a wife. 

The next day, another ship was wrecked. And the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing. Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still has nothing.

 Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island. In the morning, he found this ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings since none of his prayers had been answered. 

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven booming. 

“Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”

 “My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything.”

“You are mistaken!”, the voice rebuked him.

 “He had only one prayer, which I answered. 

“If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”

“Tell me.”, the first man asked the voce. 

“What did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”

“He prayed that all your prayers be answered.”

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone. But those of another praying for us. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for you.

Oh God Forgive Me..

Today, upon a bus, I saw a very beautiful woman.

And wished I was as beautiful.
When suddenly she rose to leave, 

I saw her hobble down the aisle. 

She had one leg and wore a crutch. 

But as she passed, she passed a smile. 
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two legs; the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy. 

The lad who sold it had such charm.

I talked with him, he seemed so glad. 

If I were late, it'd do no harm. 
And as I left, he said to me, 
"I thank you, you've been so kind.
It's nice to talk with folks like you. 
You see," he said, "I'm blind." 
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two eyes; the world is mine. 

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child I knew. 
He stood and watched the others play, but he did not know what to do. 
I stopped a moment and then I said, "Why don't you join them dear?"
 He looked ahead without a word.
 I forgot, he couldn't hear. 
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
 I have two ears; the world is mine. 

With feet to take me where I'd go, 
With eyes to see the sunset's glow, 
With ears to hear what I'd know, 
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. 
I've been blessed indeed, the world is mine. 

Why God? Why?

Oftentimes, when we asked something from Him, He answered us in a way we don't understand. But let us continue to have faith and believe that He's doing what is best for us.

LONG DISTANCE LOVE

LONG DISTANCE LOVE
By Bo Sanchez

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Sometimes, we have to love people from a distance.
The verse above says that we can actually walk away from difficult people. Don't stay if people don't like you. And don't take their rejection personally, because it's not about you. They've got issues. Leave them in the hands of God.
Let me give you an example.
Imagine you're walking in the woods one day. There, you hear someone shouting, "Help!” You run to the direction of the voice, and you see a man sinking in a quicksand. And he says, "Please! Grab my hand! I'm going to die!”
You study your choices. The sinking man is right smack in the middle of a humongous quicksand. To grab his hand, you have to actually walk into the quicksand. If you do that, the man will pull you into the quicksand — and both of you will die.
You realize that the only way to save him is to maintain your distance from him and maintain your position of stability. Practically, it means standing on solid ground and throwing him a rope. The man grabs on the rope, ties it around his body, and from your position of stability, you pull him out of the quicksand. And this point is important — he has to do something. He has to actually do something (tie the rope around his body and hold on). In other words, he should want to be rescued.
I repeat: That's the only way to rescue him. In the same way, you can't transform a difficult person by allowing yourself to be abused by him. That is why the first step to transform a difficult person is to protect yourself from him or her. 
By protecting yourself, you gain the freedom to love the difficult person in a genuine way.

The Piano Lesson

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took the small boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother bewildered by the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE."

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing". Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato.

Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderful creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.

That's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the result's aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But with the hand of the Master, our life's work truly can be beautiful

Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are playing the concerto of your life.

Remember, God doesn't call the equipped; He equips the called. And He'll always be there to love and guide you on to great things.

The Joke Time

       One day, there was a lion who called for a meeting with the animals. He said, “Each of you will tell a joke. But everyone must laugh or I’ll eat the one who told the joke.”

       The monkey, who knew he was very funny, went up first and told his joke. When he reached the punchline, everyone cracked up. Everyone that is, except one animal: The turtle. He didn’t laugh.
       The lion shook his head. He pounced on the monkey and ate him in one gulp. All the animals gasped. The lion called out, “Next!”
       The parrot believed he was really funny so he stepped in front and told his joke. When he reached his punchline, all the animals laughed. Except the turtle!
       And to everyone’s horror, the lion gobbled up the parrot.
       All the animals were angry at the turtle! But they couldn’t say anything in front of the lion.
       “Next!” the lion said.
       The giraffe stepped up, trembling. He started telling his joke when the turtle began to laugh really hard!
       The animals looked at him wondering what he was doing.
       The lion asked the turtle, “What’s wrong with you? Giraffe hasn’t reached his punchline yet!”
       The turtle said, “Haha! I can’t help it. The monkey’s joke was sooooo funny!”

Give Love, But Don’t Expect An Instant Response

Let’s say you’re a father.
And you’ve not really been spending time with your kids.
But because of the ritual, you’ve decided to hangout with them. However, you find out that your kids don’t want to hangout with you!
It’ll be frustrating. But don’t give up.
Your kids are turtles. In due time, your children will “get it” and respond to your love.