
A Lost Skill 
Kids can be unrelenting. One question after
another. It was one of those days...
"Dad, how much does a candle cost?"
"No idea, son. Perhaps a buck!"
"And how much does electricity
cost?"
"I don't know, but it does cost
a lot!
The electricity bills are always high
in
this house!"
"And the sun, dad, how much does
it
cost?"
"How on earth can I know how much
the
sun costs? Listen, son, I am very busy
now...
Leave me alone..."
Alan obeyed and left him alone.
Later on in the evening, however, Alan
went
back on the attack. This time dad was
more
serene.
"Why are you so interested in
the expense
of light. Candles, electricity bills,
sunlight...
How can one determine the cost of the
sun?"
he wondered.
"Oh, dad, I worked that one on
my own!
I know the cost of sunlight!!"
"Oh yes?!" answered coyly
the father!
"Let's see, how much?!"
"Simple dad. Sunlight is free.
It costs
nothing. God gives it to us freely,
gratis!"
A simple story. But a real eye opener.
And
heart opener also!
God is replenishing us with precious
gifts
for free. And we do not even realize!
It is not me who keeps my lungs pumping,
my heart beating and my brain functioning!
It is not me who keeps my tongue moving,
my hair growing, my feet mobile. Someone
else is doing this for me. It is not
me who
paints the sky blue every morning,
the grass
green and the sea azure. It is not
me who
makes the sun rise, the clouds pour
rain,
the moon come out and the stars shine.
It
is not me who takes flash photos from
heaven
when it is lightening and makes music
when
it is thundering!
It is Someone else...
"What a wonderful hairstyle you
have?
Who did it for you?" the woman
asked
little Connie.
"Oh, mum did the hairstyle, God
did
the hair!! " Jessica answered
with a
grin.
Rose was with her mum waiting for the
bus.
Suddenly she noticed a snail crawling
along
slowly, carrying its home on its back.
Eyes
wide open in amazement, she uttered,
"Mom,
mom, look! A snail!"
"Come on, Rose, I have no time
for snails...
Hurry up! The bus is coming. Always
wondering
on dumb things"
And so mum destroyed the poetry of
her child.
And what is life without poetry?
A prisoner had been secluded in an
isolated
cell for ten years. Never seeing anyone.
Never hearing anyone. Never speaking
to anyone.
One day a small tiny ant entered his
room.
What a marvel! He spent hours gazing
at her,
at the mechanism of her legs, at her
microscopic
head, he gave her a crumb of bread
and enjoyed
watching her nibbling it. He held her
in
his hand.
Suddenly he realized that it took him
ten
years in isolation to appreciate the
miracle
of an ant....
When will our eyes open up and we begin to
wonder again?
When will stop taking the miracle of
life
for granted?
When we shall start seeing God in our
life?
... And wonder!
(c) Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD. Permission is hereby
granted for any non-commercial use, provided
that the content is unaltered from its original
state, if this copyright notice is included.
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