SELF - PITY
In a small house, a man opens the door to a caller named suffering. However, since SUFFERING brings so much pain and hardship, he will not allow her to enter his house.
But then comes another guest named LOVE. After meeting LOVE, it is easy for the man to welcome SUFFERING, and the three of them live in peace and joy.
The devil sees this and he is displeased that the man is living peacefully with SUFFERING because of LOVE. And so, the devil sends an agent named SELF-PITY to drive LOVE out of the house. SELF-PITY looks so pitiful and sad that when he meets the man at the door, he is immediately welcomed.
Soon, the man is shedding tears over the stories told by SEL-PITY about the pain that SUFFERING has brought him. After this, the man loses interest in LOVE and SUFFERING. Now, all he does is cry with SELF-PITY, who also convinces him that LOVE CAN BRING HIM NOTHING GOOD. Then, the man sends LOVE out of the house. After LOVE has gone, the man becomes sad with SUFFERING.
LOVE is the best companion of SUFFERING. SELF-PITY IS THE GREATEST ENEMY OF love.
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BLESSINGS AND MISFORTUNES
Felix the Farmer prays for rain incessantly. The land is so parched that his crops are dying. One night he is upset when he hears his wife praying, “Thank you, God, for not making it rain.”
“You are foolish to thank God for not making it rain!” he berates her.
“Felix,” she says, “our new neighbors have just built their house near the river.”
“What does it have to do with thanking God for not making it rain?”
“If it rains, the river is likely to overflow and sweep away the family’s house. Sometimes, one’s misfortune is somebody else’s blessing. This is why I thank God for not making it rain.”
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