parables
the pond
the pond
A man is walking along a riverbank and comes to four pools.
At the first pool a young boy is throwing handfuls of stones.
"Hello, what is it that you are doing?" asks the man of the boy.
"I am scaring birds" the boy replies.
The boy is obviously successful, because there are no birds.
The man walks on and comes to the second pool where a young boy is skipping rocks.
"Hello, what is it that you are doing?" asks the man of the boy.
"I'm seeing how many skips I can make the rock do" the boy replies.
The boy is obviously successful, because his rock skips ten times before it sinks.
The man walks on and comes to the third pool where a young boy is tossing single pebbles into the pond.
"Hello, what is it that you are doing?" asks the man of the boy.
"I am making ripples" the boy replies.
The boy is obviously successful, because the ripples spread in expanding circles covering the whole surface of the pool.
The man walks on and comes to the forth pool, where as a young boy, he threw stones, skipped rocks and tossed pebbles... and stops.
After a while the boys, bored with their games, come and find the man, who is sitting quietly.
"Hello, what is it that you are doing?" asks one boy of the man.
"I am watching the pond" the man replies.
The boys think 'this man is obviously successful' - and so they join the man, to sit and watch.
And as they quietly watch the pond together... the pond, quietly, watches them back.