I love stories and parables that have a lesson for us. I found this one a number of years ago and it has always stuck in my mind:
There is a story of a farmer whose only horse ran away. That evening the neighbours gathered to commiserate with him since this was such bad luck. "Your farm will suffer, and you cannot plough," they said. "Surely this is a terrible thing to have happened to you."
He said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The next day the horse returned but brought with it six wild horses, and the neighbours came to congratulate him and exclaim at his good fortune. "You are richer than you were before!" they said. "Surely this has turned out to be a good thing for you, after all."
He said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
And then, the following day, his son tried to saddle and ride one of the wild horses. He was thrown and broke his leg, and he couldn't work on the farm. Again the neighbours came to offer their sympathy for the incident. "There is more work than only you can handle, and you may be driven poor," they said. "Surely this is a terrible misfortune."
The old farmer said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The day after that, conscription officers came to the village to seize young men for the army, but because of his broken leg the farmer's son was rejected. When the neighbours came again, they said, "How fortunate! Things have worked out after all. Most young men never return alive from the war. Surely this is the best of fortunes for you!"
And the old man said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
This story teaches us about being magnanimous. Often we are quick to judge the events that occur in our lives, labelling them good or bad. The truth is we don't know, because each individual event is part of a bigger picture, the whole tapestry of our lives, that we can rarely see. Although we cannot see it, we can learn to trust in it. We can have faith that things will work out for our greater good. I have had many life experiences that seemed "bad" at the time but looking back I can now see how they were part of a greater plan for good. This helps me to trust in the now.
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