I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and 4-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.
But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about father," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor."
So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!
When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometime he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp words when he dropped a fork or spilled food.
The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with pieces of scrap wood on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?"
Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work..
The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.
That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.
Something to share….
What have you learned after reading this Wooden Bowl tale, my young friends?
Do you remember how much your dad and mum had cared for you when you were a little child? How many suffering and anxiety your parents had gone through while bringing you up from childhood? How much love they had given you to see you through into adulthood? How much hope they had put into you when you finally got settled down to have your own family?
Don’t you think it’s your turn now to care and love them when they attain old age?
Don’t ill treat your aging parents who have sacrificed so much for you for there may be wooden bowls waiting for you too when you grow old.
Please be reminded of God’s warning in Proverbs 20:20, “If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.”
Thus, it is wise to bring joy to your father and don’t be foolish to despise your mother(Proverbs 15:20)Be dutiful to your old age parents while they are still alive! God says,“ Parents are the pride of their children.” It’s too late for you to act when they are gone from your life. You will miss them and feel regretful in the rest of your life!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Remember the Cliff Richard's song, "The Young Ones"? We tend to do all lot of foolish things when we were young. We liked to act older. Smoking a cigarette was a status symbol. We spolit our health by eating a lot of junk food. We liked to drive fast without a care in the world. In short we lived in the fast lane. As we grow older, we began to realise the importance of health to our well being. Older people can get sick easily bc their immune system is not as strong as before. When we fall sick, we realise that we had been doing foolish things like smoking and drinking and eating junk food or food with a lot of additive or prohibited colouring or over indulgence in consuming too much much fatty or oily food or food with high sugar content and we were too lazy to exercise. When we don't exercise to burn the fat and sugar, they get clog up into the blood stream and disrupt the flow of blood to the brain. Sometimes the blood vessel burst due to the clog just like our water pipe when it bursts when it is clogged with rust. I remember attending a medical talk by a Cardiologist from the Subang Medical Centre at Dr. Chan's house some time back. His topic was "A Matter of the Heart". He spoke of the 5 sins people indulge in which are bad for the heart. One of them is smoking and the other is drinking and lack of exercise. We must take great care of our heart - it's the pumping machine that keeps the body going. It cannot stop working even for one second. When it stops working, everything stops and that's the end.
Coming back to the heart of the matter. When we see the heart symbol, it denotes love. There should be love in the family. When we raise our children with love, they 'll love us when we're old. Parents work hard to give children a good life and send them for tertiary education so that they can have a better life. The children in turn should be grateful and look after their parents in their old age. My wife and I have done our best and all our 4 children have had tertiary education. Three have graduated and only one is still studying. So it's up to them to do their part later in whatever way they can. So my dear old friend, every thing goes in a circle and it's our turn to be old. Bcouse the world is round and the earth travels round the sun, everything goes in a circle sort of way.
Thanks for the wise word of advise!
Post a Comment