Welcome to 74th Monday Musings
An old man
and his dog were walking along a country road, enjoying the scenery, when it
suddenly occurred to the man that he was
actually dead.
He
remembered dying, and that his dog too had been dead for many years. He
wondered where the road would lead them, and continued onward.
After a
while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It
looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill a tall white arch that
gleamed in the sunlight broke it. When he was standing before it, he saw a
magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother of pearl, and the street
that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
He was
pleased that he had finally arrived at heaven, and the man and his dog walked
toward the gate. As he got closer, he saw someone sitting at a beautifully
carved desk off to one side.
When he was
close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, but is this heaven?"
"Yes,
it is, sir," the man answered.
"Wow!
Would you happen to have some water?" the
man asked.
"Of
course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right
up."
The
gatekeeper gestured to his rear, and the huge gate began to open.
"I
assume my friend can come in?" the
man asked, gesturing toward his dog.
But the
reply was "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The man
thought about it then thanked the gatekeeper, turned back toward the road, and
continued in the direction he had been going.
After
another long walk, he reached the top of another long hill, and he came to a
dirt road that led through a farm gate.
There was
no fence, and it looked as if the gate had never been closed, as grass had
grown up around it. As he approached the gate, he saw a man just inside,
sitting in the shade of a tree in a rickety old chair, reading a book.
"Excuse
me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"
"Certainly,
There's a pump over there," the man said, pointing to a place that
couldn't be seen from outside the gate. Come on in and make yourself at
home."
"How
about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog
"He's
welcome too, and there's a bowl by the pump," he said.
They walked
through the gate and, sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a
dipper hanging on it and a bowl next to it on the ground. The man filled the
bowl for his dog; he then took a long drink himself.
When both
were satisfied, he and the dog walked back toward the man, who was sitting
under the tree waiting for them, and asked, "What do you call this
place?"
"This is heaven," was the answer.
"Well,
that's confusing," the traveler said. "It certainly doesn't look like
heaven, and there's another man down the road who said that place was
heaven."
"Oh,
you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates?"
"Yes,
it was beautiful."
"Nope. That's hell."
"Doesn't
it offend you for them to use the name of heaven like that?"
"No. I
can see how you might think so, but it actually saves us a lot of time. They screen out the
people who are willing to leave their best friends behind."
Moral of the story :
Always Value Friendship, those who leave their friend behind for
own sake are never welcomed in Heaven.
Good Friends are Hard to find, and only way to have a good friend
is to be one ! A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather
be anywhere else.
Make it a great Week !
Shailesh
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