SAND AND STONE

Today, my best friend slapped me

Two friends were walking through the desert.At some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand: Today my best friend slapped me in the face.
They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but his friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: Today my best friend saved my life.
The friend, who had slapped and saved his best friend, asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away, but when someone does something good to us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it. Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your blessings in stone.
— Unknown

WHAT’S YOUR RELIGION

Diving off the cliff

A Christian was walking along a cliff one day and saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. He immediately ran over and said, “Stop! Don’t do it!”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.
The Christian said, “Well, there’s so much to live for.”
“Like what?” he asked.

“Well… are you religious or atheist?”
“Religious.”

“Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?”
“Christian.”

“Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”

“Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist.”

“Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God.”

“Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”

“Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915.”

To which the potential rescuer said, “Die, heretic scum!” and pushed him off. To some people, many similarities are outweighed by only one tiny difference.

Let us love our fellow human beings despite our differences.

Don't give in to anger

NAILS IN THE FENCE
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”
“A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.”