“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” – William Shakespeare
A movie is either a tragedy or a comedy depending only on where it fades to black and says The End.
There is always an element of comic relief in drama and always some conflict in a comedy. So, if you look at life as a continuum and not a bunch of scenes, and a continuum that goes on forever, there is no great “The End” covering the screen. Is this moment, this current situation, this current circumstance you find yourself in the final word?
Is it a blessing? Is it a curse? It is all a matter of where you draw the line between one moment in life and another.
In other words, it is all how you look at it!
Si’s Horse
Once upon a time in long ago China there lived a farmer named Si (pronounced sigh) He was a simple dirt farmer, living in a village of dirt farmers. Like everyone in the village, Si owned a horse. Now a horse is a very important asset to a farmer. It does the ploughing, pulls wagons and carts, and gets the family around to events. It is no exaggeration to say that the horse is the most important possession of a farmer.
Well, one day, completely by accident, the barn door was left open and Si’s precious horse ran away.
“Oh no!” exclaimed all the neighbors. “Si, this is terrible.” To which Si replied, “Perhaps.”
Well, the neighbors helped as much as they could but it was a very difficult time for Si and his family. They were struggling and on the verge of losing it all when, one day a few weeks later, the horse returned.
Not only did Si’s horse return but he was also followed by about 10 wild horses. With a little bit of work, Si had 11 horses in his barn.
“Oh my, praise God!” exclaimed all the neighbors. “Si, you are so fortunate. You’ll be rich.” To which Si replied, “Perhaps.”
There was a lot of work to do. These were wild horses after all. In order to be worth anything, they had to be broken.
Over the next several weeks, Si and his oldest son labored to get all the horses ready for sale.
Well, there was one critter who was particularly ornery and on one fateful day, Si’s son was thrown. It was a really bad fall and broke his leg. His leg was broken so badly that it could never heal completely.
For the rest of his life, he would walk with a limp.
“Oh, Si this is terrible!” exclaimed all the neighbors. “He is so young, what a horrible thing to happen.” To which Si replied, “Perhaps.”
A couple of years go by and times are good. The crops were particularly bountiful.Si had sold many of the horses and was quite comfortable. The whole village was doing well.
Until one day, an army regiment arrived in their small village.
It seemed that their small province had gotten into a war with a neighboring one. The army was going around the whole area gathering up all the young able-bodied men to fight in their way.
When they left all the young men were gone. Except for Si’s son. His limp disqualified him from fighting and he was left at home.
“Oh, Si you are so fortunate!” cried all the neighbors. “We have all lost our sons except you. You are so blessed.” To which Si replied, “Perhaps.”
So, in your life, where are you imagining the fade to black and the definitive The End?
Is it a blessing? Perhaps!
Is it a curse? Perhaps!
It is all how you look at it.
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