Jumat, 29 Oktober 2021

Kisah Pohon Apel

Kisah Pohon Apel

Suatu ketika, hiduplah sebatang pohon apel besar dan  seorang anak lelaki yang senang
bermain-main di bawah pohon apel itu setiap hari.  Ia senang memanjat hingga ke pucuk pohon apel itu, dan memakan buahnya.  Ia juga suka tidur-tiduran di bawah teduhnya daun-daunnya yang rindang. Si Anak Lelaki itu sangat mencintai pohon apel itu. Demikian pula pohon apel sangat mencintai anak kecil itu. 

Waktu terus berlalu. Anak lelaki itu kini telah tumbuh besar dan tidak lagi bermain-main dengan pohon apel itu setiap harinya.


Suatu hari anak lelaki itu datang dengan wajam muram.
"Mari bermain-main lagi denganku,” pohon apel itu mencoba menghibur si anak itu... 
“Aku bukan anak kecil yang bermain-main dengan pohon lagi,” jawab anak lelaki itu.
”Aku ingin sekali memiliki mainan, tapi aku tak punya uang untuk membelinya.”


Pohon apel sedih dan berkata. "Engkau boleh mengambil semua buah apelku dan menjualnya. Dengan demikian engkau bisa mendapatkan uang untuk membeli mainan kesukaanmu," kata Si Pohon Apel.
 
Anak lelaki itu sangat senang. Ia lalu bergegas mengambil keranjang dan mulai memetik buah apel satu persatu.  Setelah terkumpul buah pohon apel itu ia pun pergi dengan penuh sukacita meninggalkan Si Pohon Apel yang kembali sepi dalam kesendiriannya.

Si Anak Lelaki tak pernah datang lagi. Pohon apel itu kembali bersedih.

Setelah lama tidak pernah datang, pada suatu ketika  Si Anak Lelaki yang sudah menjadi laki-laki dewasa datang lagi, dengan wajah muram.

“Ayo bermain-main denganku lagi,” kata pohon apel. 

“Aku tak punya waktu bermain lagi sekarang ,” jawab anak lelaki itu. “Aku harus bekerja untuk keluargaku. Kami membutuhkan rumah untuk tempat tinggal. Maukah kau menolongku?” 

"Duh, maaf, aku pun tak memiliki rumah, kata Pohon Apel. Tetapi engkau dapat menebang ranting dan dahanku untuk dijadikan rumah.  

Kemudian anak lelaki itu menebang semua dahan dan ranting pohon apel itu. Setelah terkumpul sesuai dengan kebutuhannya, pulanglah lelaki itu dengan gembira. Pohon apel itu juga merasa bahagia melihat anak lelaki itu senang.

Anak lelaki itu tak pernah kembali lagi. Pohon apel itu merasa kesepian dan sedih.


Pada suatu musim panas, si anak lelaki datang lagi.  Pohon apel sangat bersuka cita menyambutnya.
”Ayo bermain-main lagi denganku,” kata pohon apel.
”Aku sedih,” kata anak lelaki itu.”Aku sudah tua dan ingin hidup tenang. Aku ingin pergi berlibur dan berlayar. Maukah kau memberi aku sebuah kapal untuk pesiar?”

"Maaf aku tidak memiliki kapal untuk kuberikan padamu,"kata pohon apel itu.  
"Tetapi kamu dapat menebang batangku dan engkau dapat  menggunakannya untuk membuat kapal yang kau mau. Pergilah berlayar dan bersenang-senanglah.”

Kemudian anak lelaki yang sudah menjadi tua itu menebang batang pohon apel dan membuat kapal yang diidamkannya. Ia lalu pergi berlayar mengarungi samudera dan tak pernah lagi datang menemui pohon apel itu.

Pohon apel kembali tinggal sendiri kesepian dan sedih.

Bertahun-tahun si anak lelaki tidak pernah datang.  Hingga pada suatu waktu si anak lelaki kembali.  Si pohon apel senang, tetapi segera menjadi sedih karena ia sudah tidak memiliki apa-apa lagi yang dapat diberikannya kepada anak lelaki itu

"Anakku, aku sudah tak memiliki buah apel lagi untukmu,” kata pohon apel.
“Tak apa. Aku pun sudah tak memiliki gigi untuk mengigit buah apelmu,” jawab anak lelaki itu.

“Aku juga tidak memiliki batang dan dahan yang boleh kau panjat," kata pohon apel.
"Sekarang, aku sudah terlalu tua untuk itu semua,” jawab anak lelaki itu.

“Aku benar-benar tidak memiliki apa-apa lagi yang dapat aku berikan padamu. Yang tinggal hanyalah akar-akarku yang sudah tua ini” kata pohon apel itu sambil menitikkan air mata.

”Aku tidak memerlukan apa-apa lagi sekarang.  Aku hanya membutuhkan tempat untuk beristirahat. Aku sangat lelah setelah sekian lama meninggalkanmu,” demikian anak lelaki itu dengan suara kelelahan.

“Oooh, bagus sekali. Tahukah engkau, akar-akar pohon tua adalah tempat terbaik untuk berbaring dan beristirahat. Mari, marilah berbaring di pelukan akar-akarku dan beristirahatlah dengan tenang.”

Anak lelaki itu berbaring di pelukan akar-akar pohon.  Pohon apel itu tersenyum sambil menitikkan air mata.


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Refleksi diri :

Pohon apel itu adalah orang tua kita.
Ketika kita muda, kita senang bermain-main dengan ayah dan ibu kita. 
Ketikakita tumbuh besar, kita meninggalkan mereka, dan hanya datang ketika kita
memerlukan sesuatu atau dalam kesulitan. 
Tak peduli apa pun, orang tua kita akan selalu ada di sana untuk memberikan apa yang bisa mereka berikan untuk membuat kita bahagia. 

Anda mungkin berpikir bahwa anak lelaki itu telah bertindak sangat kasar pada pohon itu.  Tetapi begitulah cara kita memperlakukan orang tua kita.

Jika kita masih memiliki orangtua, sampaikan pada orang tua kita sekarang, betapa kita mencintainya; dan 
berterima kasih atas seluruh hidup yang telah dan akan diberikannya pada
kita. Mumpung ada waktu dan ada kesempatan, nyatakanlah dalam kata-kata dan perbuatan yang menunjukkan betapa kita pun mengasihi orangtua kita dan sangat berterimakasih kepada mereka.

----------------

Pohon apel itu pun dapat pula diibaratkan sebagai Tuhan.
Acapkali kita meminta kepada Tuhan ketika kita merasa kesulitan atau menginginkan sesuatu.
Tetapi segera kita meninggalkan Tuhan ketika kita mulai sibuk dengan kehidupan kita di dunia.

Meski kita seringkali meninggalkan Tuhan, tetapi Tuhan tak pernah meninggalkan kita dan selalu ada untuk kita.

Senin, 02 November 2015

Who is Happy? The Peacock and The Crow

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”
He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”
The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”
The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

That’s our problem too. We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what God has given us.  This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness.  Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have.   There will always be someone who will have more or less than you have.  Person who is satisfied with what he/she has, is the happiest person in the world.

Sabtu, 09 November 2013

Can I Borrow Rs.25 ?

A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at the door.

SON: 'Mummy, may I ask you a question?'

MUM: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the woman.

SON: 'Mummy, how much do you make an hour?'

MUM: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the woman said angrily.
SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'

MUM: 'If you must know, I make R 50 an hour.'

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'Mummy, may I please borrow R25?'

The mother was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door..

The woman sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the woman had calmed down , and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that R25.00 and she really didn't ask for money very often.The woman went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' She asked.

'No Mummy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the woman. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the R25 you asked for.'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you Mummy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The woman saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his mother.

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the mother grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.

'Mummy, I have R50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'

The mother was crushed. She put his arms around her little son, and she begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that R50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Jumat, 05 April 2013

A Loving Husband

“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed -dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.— At least, in the eyes of our son—- I’m a loving husband….

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.

So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you.

If you do, you just might save a marriage. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ♥

Remember love is the richest of all treasures. Without it there is nothing; and with it there is everything. Love never perishes , even if the bones of a lover are ground fine like powder. Just as the perfume of sandalwood does not leave it, even if it is completely ground up, similarly the basis of love is the soul, and it is indestructible and therefore eternal. Beauty can be destroyed , but not love. ♥

Rabu, 22 Juni 2011

Love Means

(A girl and guy were speeding over 100 mph on a motorcycle)

Girl: Slow down. I'm scared.
Guy: No this is fun.
Girl: No its not. Please, it's too scary!
Guy: Then tell me you love me.
Girl: Fine, I love you. Slow down!
Guy: Now give me a BIG hug. (Girl hugs him)
Guy: Can u take my helmet off and put it on? It's bugging me.

In the paper the next day: A motorcycle had crashed into a building because of break failure. Two people were on the motorcycle, but only one survived.

The truth was that halfway down the road, the guy realized that his breaks broke,
but he didn't want to let the girl know. Instead, he had her say she loved him, felt
her hug one last time, then had her wear his helmet so she would live even though it
meant he would die.

Blind Girl

There was a blind girl who was filled with animosity and despised the world.

She didn't have many friends, just a boyfriend who loved her deeply, like no one else.


She always used to say that she'd marry him if she could see him. Suddenly, one day someone donated her a pair of eyes…


And that's when she finally saw her boyfriend…


She was astonished to see that her boyfriend too was blind…

He told her, "You can see me now, can we get married?"

She replied, "And do what? We'd never be happy. I have my eye sight now, but you're still blind. It won't work out, I'm sorry."


With a tear in his eye and a smile on his face, he meekly said, "I understand. I just want you to always be happy. Take care of yourself, and my eyes."

Why Dogs Don't Live As Long As People

Why Dogs Don't Live As Long As People

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owner, his wife, and their little boy were all very attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, the owners told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old boy to observe the procedure. They felt he could learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. The little boy seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.

Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

The little boy, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "Everybody is born so that they can learn how to live a good life - like loving everybody and being nice, right?" The four-year- old continued, "Well, animals already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."