Ketika tak ada yang perlu dilakukan, ya jangan ngapa-ngapain
“
| — | Ajahn Brahm |
Cintailah orang lain sama besarnya dengan cintamu pada diri sendiri. Perlakukanlah orang lain seperti halnya memperlakukan dirimu sendiri, dan memperlakukan diri sendiri seperti kamu memperlakukan orang lain
“
| — | Ajahn Brahm (dalam buku Si Cacing dan Kotoran Kesayangannya) |
Ketika disakiti oleh orang lain, anda diam dan berdoa “biarlah Tuhan yang membalasnya”, sebenarnya anda menggunakan Tuhan sebagai alat/pesuruh untuk menyakiti orang lain. Saran saya, lebih baik anda menyakiti dengan tangan anda sendiri daripada “menyuruh” Dia yang Maha Kasih untuk membalaskan dendam anda.
“
| — | Me |
Saat berpacaran, pasangan sekadar terlibat. Saat bertunangan, tetap saja hanya terlibat walau mungkin lebih mendalam. Saat mereka bersumpah menikah, itulah komitmen. Perbedaan antara keterlibatan dan komitmen itu sama dengan perbedaan antara telur dengan bacon (daging babi asap). Dengan telur, si ayam cuma terlibat. Sedangkan dengan bacon, si babi berkomitmen penuh. Semoga pernikahan anda menjadi sebuah pernikahan babi.
“
| — | Ajahn Brahm (dalam buku “Si cacing dan kotoran kesayangannya”) |
Begitu cintanya Tuhan pada mereka yang hidup dengan baik dan penuh kasih pada sesama, kerinduanNya tak tertahan sehingga Ia segera memanggil mereka untuk kembali bersamanya.
“
| — | Me (mengenang sahabatku Yesi Yulianti, yang meninggal tadi subuh) |
Cost of Miracle – one dollar and eleven cents
A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even.. The total had to be exactly perfect.. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.
She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a
quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!
‘And what do you want?’ the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.. I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen in ages,’ he said without waiting for a reply to his question.
‘Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,’ Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. ‘He’s really, really sick….and I want to buy a miracle.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ said the pharmacist.
‘His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?’
‘We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,’ the pharmacist said, softening a little.
‘Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.’
The pharmacist’s brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, ‘What kind of a miracle does your brother need?’ ‘ I don’t know,’ Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money..’
‘How much do you have?’ asked the man from Chicago ‘One dollar and eleven cents,’ Tess answered barely audible. ‘And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.’
‘Well, what a coincidence,’ smiled the man. ‘A dollar and eleven cents—the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.’ He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said ‘Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the miracle you need.’
That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.
‘That surgery,’ her Mom whispered. ‘was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?’
Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost….one dollar and eleven cents…plus the faith of a little child.
(Taken from a comment by someone in a story in Paulo Coeljo’s blog)
The fisherman and the businessman
There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”
The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”
The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”
(Classic Brazilian story, probably also present in other cultures. Someone found the English version, but I could not identify the translator)
Taken from Paulo Coelho’s blog (http://bit.ly/cSzlzO)
When something undesirable grows in my soul, I ask God to give me the same courage mercilessly to pluck it out
“
| — | Paulo Coelho in Like the Flowing River |
