Here is a beautiful story sent to me by a reader of this column in Michigan,
USA. I thought I will share it with you. Read it and share it with others.
"A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white
beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said, "I
don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have
something to eat." "Is your husband home?" They asked.
"No," She said. "He's out." "Then we cannot come
in," they replied. In the evening when her husband came home, she told him
what has happened. "Go tell them I am home, and invite them in!"
The woman went out and invited the men in. "We do not go into a House
together," they replied. "Why is that?" She wanted to know. One
of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to
one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I
am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband
which one of us you want in your home."
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed.
"How nice!!", He said. "Since that is the case, let us invite
Wealth. Let him come in and fill our home with wealth!" His wife disagreed.
"My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their daughter-in-law was
listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own
suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be
filled with love!" "Let us heed our daughter-in-law's advice,"
said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our
guest."
The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love?
Please come in and be our guest." Love got up and started walking toward
the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked
Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?" The
old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or
Success, the other
two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we
go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!"
Dear reader, who are you inviting in your home tonight? Is it Success? We all
do want that. Is it Wealth? Certainly, financial independence is something we
all would like to attain. Or is it love? During the hippie years a most popular
song was "What the world needs now is love sweet love. It’s the only
thing that’s there’s just to little of." How true. If we focus on
Success or Wealth alone, the chances of experiencing or developing a passion to
share and love others will be very, very small. In fact wealth and success
without love is self-centeredness. And self-centeredness is a root cause for
crime and immoral behavior. However, if we focus on love, providing a caring,
nonjudgmental family life and community, the chance of being successful and
wealthy (not necessarily with money) increases tenfold.
As a society, we have focused too long on being successful and wealthy. What
is really missing is a nation of compassion, forgiveness, understanding, and
love. If every national and community leader, religious and civic leader, mom
and dad, would invite LOVE in to their homes how different will be our
families and nation? If we have love, success and wealth will also come in. Let’s
try it.
"My wish for you is: Where there is pain, I wish you peace and mercy.
Where there is self-doubting I wish you a renewed confidence in Your Ability to
work through them. Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I wish you
understanding, patience, and renewed strength. Where there is fear, we wish you
love, and courage."
Barrington H. Brennen, MA, NCP, BCCP, is a
marriage and family therapist and board certified clinical
psychotherapist, USA. Send your questions or comments to
question@soencouragement.org
r
write to P.O. Box CB-11045, Nassau, The Bahamas, or visit
www.soencouragement.org
or call 242-327-1980 or 242-477-4002.
