The Path in the Snow

Many children get very excited when the snowfall season arrives. They play in the parks and build snow sculptures that stay intact until the warm weather returns.

One of the parks was all white in the beginning of the winter snow season. Three friends went to the park to play. They devised a game in which each person would engrave a line in the snow by walking to the fence. They would then judge whose line was the straightest and most direct.

They spread out and started walking, making imprints in the snow. The first one went completely off track and missed the fence. The second one thought that his line was straight. However, when he looked back, he discovered that he had gone to the left and to the right along the way.

The third one was right on target and maintained the straight line they were all after. They wondered why the first deviated and the second ended up with a crooked line while the third was successful. The third friend answered, “While you were concentrating on your feet, I was focusing on the tree that was in front of me beside the fence. I didn't look in any other direction; that's why the line was straight.”

One's life is a marathon among people. Whoever takes the royal path will reach heaven without deviating in this world's ‘snow.

Many young people aspire to attain straight behavior. However, they fall short of it, blaming everything on human weakness nd emotions. In fact, the reason for distorted or zigzag behavior is the lack of concentration on the tree of life, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Although it is a virtue to confess our weakness and avoid the world's delusions, we need to concentrate on Christ. This positive aspect supports us in our spiritual growth and replaces all negative behavior.

If we hope to become honest in our dealings, we cannot desire the earthly things, which are a diversion from the royal path in which Jesus carries us all. As St. Paul said,

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,

The author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12.1-2).

A STRAYING LAMB

The Shepherd loved His little lamb, and gave it His tender care...

And followed it with His loving eyes as it wandered here and there.

And as He sat by His grazing flock who so meekly His voice obeyed,

He pondered sadly His little lamb as again and again it strayed.

The little lamb had a loving heart, and adored His Shepherd, true,

But would turn aside and seek his own way as lambs will so often do.

With His gentle voice the Shepherd called, To His loved and straying lamb,

"Come back, little one, for you are not safe unless you are where I am."

But still the lamb would soon forget and unthinkingly wander away,

And not really noticing what he did, from the Shepherd's side would stray.

Until one day, the Shepherd kind took His rod in His gentle hand,

And what He then did seemed so cruel that the lamb could not understand.

For with one sharp and well-aimed blow down the rod so swiftly came

That it broke the leg of the little lamb and left it crippled, and lame.

Then the little lamb, with a cry of pain, fell down upon his knees...

And looked up at his Shepherd, as though to say, won't you explain this, please?"

Then he saw the love in the Shepherd's eyes as the tears ran down His face,

As He tenderly set the broken bone, and bound it back in it's place.

Now he was utterly helpless, he could not even stand!

He must trust himself completely to his Shepherd's loving hand.

Then day by day, 'till the lamb was healed from the flock he was kept apart...

And carried about in the Shepherd's arms, and cradled near to His heart.

And the Shepherd would whisper gentle words into his now listening ear...

Thus he heard sweet words of love that the other sheep could not hear.

He felt the warmth of the Shepherd's arms and the beat of His faithful heart...

Until it came a blessing to seem, by his weakness to be set apart.

Every need of the little lamb by his Shepherd so fully was met

That through his brokenness he learned what he never again would forget.

And as the broken bone was healed, and once more became whole and strong...

Wherever the Shepherd's path would lead, the lamb would follow along.

Thus at the Shepherd's side he walked so closely, day by day,

For once a lamb has a broken leg it will never again go astray.

For the cords of love had bound it so in its hour of weakness and need...

That it had no desire to wander away, when once again it was freed.

Could it be you are broken today, and you cannot understand

The painful blow of the Shepherd's rod nor believe it came from His hand?

He only seeks, by this painful thing, for a time to call you apart...

To cradle you close in His loving arms, and draw you near to His heart.

So look up into your Shepherd's eyes, and earnestly seek His face...

And prove in the hour of your weakness and need the sufficiency of His grace.

For as you are borne in His loving arms, and carried there, day by day...

He will bind you so close with the cords of His love that never again will you stray!

-author unknown

Why do Frogs live in the mud?

Timothy asked his grandma, “Why do frogs live in the mud?”

“In the past,” She said, “A deer wanted to make a banquet for all the animals and birds. He invited them all save the tiger ‘because the tiger was his mortal enemy and many animals and birds feared him. All came to the deer’s house. He got perplexed and asked, “Who will head the banquet?”

“I’m the oldest one.” The raven said. “So I deserve to sit at the table-head.”

“No, I’m older than you.” The frog said, “It’s I who should sit at the table-head.”

The frog sat at the table-head. Before eating, they heard a loud roar. It was the tiger swearing that he would devour all the guests because they went to the banquet and ignored him. They were all afraid. Then, the deer looked to the fox saying, “We all know that you can make the tiger calm down. Hurry and go to him before he comes and devours us.”

The fox met the tiger who was angry. Thus, he said calmly, “Hello, my lord the tiger. Why are you sad today?”

“The deer invited all the animals but me.” The tiger said angrily. “I’ll go to avenge my dignity.”

“I wonder why you’re sad.” said the fox with a smile. “It’s because they honor you that they didn’t invite you. The deer prepared some herbs and plants. How can he then invite the ruler of the mountains to eat of it? We’re all your servants. How can the servants invite their master to such a poor banquet?”

“You’re right.” The tiger calmed down and said. He then went searching for a prey.

The fox returned to the banquet to find no one save the deer. When he asked him about the guests, the deer said, “They all escaped fearing the tiger.”

The fox went searching for them to invite them to return since he did his task successfully. However, he found the frog who headed the banquet diving into the mud and insisting on remaining there and not returning to the banquet.

She said that she did not trust the tiger. He might think again of taking revenge.

Thus, the frog, who wanted to be the leader proudly, descended into the mud by the spirit of fear.

The ant and the contact lens

A True Story By Josh and Karen Zarandona

 i found this story on the internet ...

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was very scared, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens.

Well, here she is, on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.

Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.
When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.

She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on it's back.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."


-----

It would probably do some of us a lot of good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. GOD is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him... "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." (Philipians 4:13)

Hangs His Cloak on A Ray of the Sun:

This is one of the countless miracles that Anba Abraam blessed us with, which I never grow tired from hearing or telling/writing.

Anba Abraam received new furniture for the episcopate. He refused to use it, and asked the servant to put it in the storage area. Along came a poor woman complaining to him about her daughter who would not get married because they don't have money to buy furniture for her and her future husband. Anba Abraam told the servant to show this lady the new furniture, and let her take what she needed.

Later, some of the people complained to Pope Kyrillos V about the giving away of the furniture. Afterwards, there was a collection to build a new house for the episcopate. Anba Abraam gave that money also to the poor and needy. There goes another complaint.

The Pope asked to see Amba Abraam. He went without delay. Being an old man, he had poor eyesight. On his arrival, he went in to see the Pope in his suite. It was a summer afternoon, and a ray of the sun through a hole in the shade of the window was mistaken by Anba Abraam for a rope used to hang clothes; (it was a habit in those days to install ropes for hanging a coat, a shoal or the like). Anba Abraam, threw his Farageia (Cloak or coat) on it and it stayed there. When Pope Kirollos V saw how the Lord works wonders with His children, and specifically with Anba Abraam not to embarrass this saint on earth. He changed the purpose of the call and instead he inquired about his health and gave him 15,000 Egyptian Pounds to build a new house for the episcopate.

When the people came back to see the Pope, he scolded them for their lack of faith, concluding: "How can I argue with a man of God who was able to hang his cloak on a ray of the Sun." The new house for the episcopate was not built in Anba Abraam's life ... because the money was used to help the poor.

The world is full of people who need someone who understands

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the four pups. And set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of little boy.

'Mister,' he said, 'I want to buy one of your puppies.'

'Well,' said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.' The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. 'I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?'

 'Sure,' said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. 'Here, Dolly!' he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.

Slowly another little ball appeared this one noticeably smaller. Down the
ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began
hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up...

'I want that one,' the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, 'Son, you don't want that puppy.  He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.' With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers.
In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, 'You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.' With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup

 Holding it carefully handed it to the little boy.

 'How much?' asked the little boy.  'No charge,' answered the farmer, there’s no charge for love.'

The story behind this picture

The beautiful story behind the picture:

His Holiness, The Thrice Blessed Pope Shenouda III went to consecrate this church in Alexandria. Then, something very unusual happened during this sacred event, His Holiness, instead of sitting on his throne seen in the picture behind him; he sat on the carpet, on the step.

At first, people thought that it was because the church was not yet consecrated. But, even after its consecration, he still sat on the ground and refused to sit on any chair that was offered to him.

People were wandering, why is Say’eddna not sitting on any chairs?

When he was asked privately by one of the bishops he answered him saying that he could see St. Mark himself sitting on the throne, and that it would not be appropriate to ask his teacher to get up so that he can sit there instead. It is an honour and privilege to sit at his feet.

My Comment:

Even without knowing the story behind this picture, just looking at the great shepherd, Pope Shenouda III, sitting on the ground while his people around him are sitting on the chairs (and he did not explain why except to someone close to him) shows the humility that we read about in saints’ stories.

May The Lord Jesus Christ repose your soul Say’eddna in the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the heavenly Jerusalem and may the Lord accept your prayers on our behalf.