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Enemies
Pay
attention to your enemies
for they are the first to discover your
mistakes.
Antisthenes.
Rabbi
David A. Nelson likes to tell the story of two brothers who went to their rabbi
to settle a longstanding feud. The rabbi got the two to reconcile their
differences and shake hands. As they were about to leave
he asked each one to
make a wish for the other in honor of the Jewish New Year. The first brother
turned to the other and said
"I wish you what you wish me." At that
the second brother threw up his hands and said
"See
Rabbi
he's starting
up again!"
David
A. Nelson.
In
"Context
" Mary Marty retells a parable from the "Eye of the
Needle" newsletter: A holy man was engaged in his morning meditation under
a tree whose roots stretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he
noticed that the river was rising
and a scorpion caught in the roots was about
to drown. He crawled out on the roots and reached down to free the scorpion
but every time he did so
the scorpion struck back at him. An observer came
along and said to the holy man
"Don't you know that's a scorpion
and
it's in the nature of a scorpion to want to sting?" To which the holy man
replied
'That may well be
but it is my nature to save
and must I change my
nature because the scorpion does not change its nature?"
Joseph
B. Modica.
In The
Grace of Giving
Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the
American Revolution
Peter Miller
who lived in Ephrata
Pennsylvania
and
enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael
Wittman
an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the
pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die.
Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the
life of the traitor. "No
Peter
" General Washington said. "I
cannot grant you the life of your friend." "My friend!"
exclaimed the old preacher. "He's the bitterest enemy I have." "What?"
cried Washington. "You've walked seventy miles to save the life of an
enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I'll grant your pardon."
And he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata--no longer
an enemy but a friend.
Lynn
Jost.
In
1632
at the Battle of Lutzen during the 30 year's war
King Gustavus Adolphus
was shot in the back while leading his cavalry in a charge against the Catholic
armies of the Holy Roman Empire. Who actually killed him remains an unanswered
question. However
many historical authorities insist that Gustavus must have
been killed by one of his own men
if not accidentally then intentionally by a
traitor.
Source
Unknown.
Politics
without principle
pleasure without conscience
wealth without work
knowledge
without character
business without morality
science without humanity
worship
without sacrifice.
Mohandas
K. Gandhi
on things that will destroy us.
A
reporter was interviewing an old man on his 100th birthday. "What are you
most proud of?" he asked. "Well
" said the man
"I don't
have an enemy in the world." "What a beautiful thought! How
inspirational!" said the reporter. "Yep
" added the centenarian
"outlived every last one of them."
Source
Unknown.
In Context
Mary Marty retells a parable from the Eye of the Needle newsletter:
"A holy man was engaged in his morning meditation under a tree whose roots
stretched out over the riverbank. During his meditation he noticed that the
river was rising
and a scorpion caught in the roots was about to drown. He
crawled out on the roots and reached down to free the scorpion
but every time
he did so
the scorpion struck back at him. "An observer came along and
said to the holy man
'Don't you know that's a scorpion
and it 's in the nature
of a scorpion to want to sting?' "To which the holy man replied
'That may
well be
but it is my nature to save
and must I change my nature because the
scorpion does not change its nature?"
Joseph
B. Modica.