Fw: TAN: A Fable for our Times
Posted by: stampinbookworm <stampinbookworm@...>
Vaughnde Edwards
Missoula, Montana
Praise the Lord, He is Risen Indeed!!
-----Original Message-----
From: wifeygirl - Marilyn H. <wifeygrl@NORTHCOAST.COM>
To: RUBBERSTAMPERS@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM <RUBBERSTAMPERS@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM>
Date: Thursday, October 04, 2001 1:50 PM
Subject: TAN: A Fable for our Times
Potatoes, Eggs And Coffee Beans
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was
miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She
was
tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one
problem
was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with
water
and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he
placed
potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in
the
third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his
daughter.
The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was
doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out
of
the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed
them a
bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?"
"Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that
they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After
pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he
asked
her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each
faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted
differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in
boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid
interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the
egg
became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to
the
boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
"Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your
door,
how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? "
In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only
thing
that truly matters is what happens within us.
Which one are you?
- Author Unknown