People are generally quite willing to give
advice, even when not asked. Giving advice is easy. It doesn’t cost anything
and is generally only as reliable as the person giving it. Advise comes in all
shapes and sizes and from all directions.
Over the years I have given my share of advice
to both those who wanted it and those who did not. I have also received my
share of advice from others, some I wanted, some I did not. But there was one
piece of advice that continues to serve me well. “Remember things are not
always what they seem.”
If we consider each day a new adventure, with
new experiences, some of those experiences becoming successes, some failures,
we allow ourselves to fall victim to the trap of seeing things not as they
truly may be.
We have become a society that makes judgements
on what we see on the outside and not from “within. “Flashy cars, fancy
clothes, well-chosen words blind us to the lack of moral character.
First impressions are designed to deceive, to
win our confidence and it may be only a few who can see what has been carefully
hidden. Confucius once said, “I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral
character as he is of outward appearance.” Is this the new level to which we
have fallen?
As the old story goes, two traveling angels
stopped to spend a night at the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude
and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead they were told
they would have to stay in the basement. As the angles made their bed on the
hard floor the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When asked
by the younger angel why, the older angel relied, “Things are not always what
they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the
home of a very poor but hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what
little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they
could get a good night’s sleep.
When the sun came up the next morning, the
angels found the couple in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their
sole source of income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated
and asked the older angel, “How could you allow this to happen? The first man
had everything, yet you helped him. The second man had very little but was
willing to share everything, but you let their cow die.”
“Things are always what they seem, “the older
angel replied.” When we stayed in the basement, I noticed there was gold stored
in the hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and
unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he could not find it.
Then, last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for
his wife. I told him to take the cow instead. Things are not always as they
seem.”
The original source of this story is unknown,
but its message has been passed down through the ages. Sometimes things don’t
turn out the way we think they should. But then,” sometimes things are not
really as they seem.” Perhaps that is still a good piece of advice after all.
