The Whole Cookie

I was in the bakery section of a local supermarket the other day when I spotted a huge, delicious-looking, chocolate cake on sale. I was tempted to put it in my shopping cart but lately I have been trying to keep my middle-age spread from spreading, so I walked on. Just as I was passing it by, however, a little boy no more than four or five years old ran up to it and yelled, "Mommy, Mommy, Let's get the chocolate cake!" His Mom walked up and patiently explained that they couldn't afford that cake even on sale, but maybe they could get a couple of chocolate chip cookies instead. I expected the little boy to be upset, but instead his smile grew even wider as he said, "Yes, Yes, I love cookies!"
How I wish I had the wisdom of that little boy. As I have gone down life's path over the years I have far too often rejected the delightful bites of cookie that God has offered me because my eyes were fixed on the giant chocolate cake at the end of the road. All the little joys that I could have cherished were ignored because I couldn't take my eyes off the prize. It took me so many years to see that that chocolate cake was only an illusion of my own making.
That chocolate cake was the desire of what I wanted my life to be, but all of those bites of cookie was the life that God gave me to live. These days I delight in every one of them. I embrace every chance to do good, to share love, to help others, to create joy, and to grow into the person God meant for me to be. I know too that at the end of my days here God will allow me to see the whole cookie that was my life and I pray that it will be a delicious sight to see.
Don't pass up your cookies for some imaginary cake. Enjoy every bite of this life that God has given you. Rejoice in His glorious love for you and share your own love as well. Make your life a sweet treat for your soul and the souls of everyone you meet.

FINAL DESTINATION OF LIFE …

One Sunday morning, a wealthy man sat in his balcony enjoying sunshine and his coffee when a little ant caught his eye which was going from one side to the other side of the balcony carrying a big leaf several times more than its size. The man watched it for more than an hour. He saw that the ant faced many impediments during its journey, paused, took a diversion and then continued towards Destination.
At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analyzed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued its journey. The man was captivated by the cleverness of the ant, one of God’s tiniest creatures. The incident left the man in awe and forced him to contemplate over the miracle of Creation. It showed the greatness of the Creator. In front of his eyes there was this tiny creature of God, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to “analyze, contemplate, reason, explore, discover & overcome”. Along with all these capabilities, the man also noticed that this tiny creature shared some human shortcomings.
The man saw about an hour later the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor which was entrance to its underground dwelling. How could the ant carry into the tiny hole the large leaf that it had managed to carefully bring to the Destination? It simply couldn’t!
So the tiny creature, after all the painstaking and hard work and exercising great skills, overcoming all the difficulties along the way, just left behind the large leaf and went home empty-handed.
The ant had not thought about the end before it began its challenging journey and in the end the large leaf was nothing more than a burden to it. The creature had no option, but to leave it behind to reach its destination. The rich man learnt a great lesson that day...Isn’t that the truth about our lives?
We worry about our family, we worry about our job, we worry about how to earn more money, we worry about where we should live – 3 bedroom or 5 bedroom house, what kind of vehicle to buy – a TOYOTA or an Audi or a BMW? What kind of watches to wear, all sorts of things, only to abandon all these things when we reach our destination –
The END STATE...We don’t realize in our life’s journey that these are mere burdens that we are carrying with utmost care and fear of losing them, only to find that at the end they are useless and we can’t take them with us.
MORAL
“THERE HAS TO BE CONTENTMENT AT SOME LEVEL IN LIFE. NOTHING EXCEPT THE NAME YOU MAKE FOR YOURSELF AND THE MEMORIES YOU LEAVE BEHIND SHALL GO ALONG WITH YOU TO THE FINAL DESTINATION.”

The Hermit Eagle –Ruler of the Skies

When God created birds, it gave them a king. It was called the “Hermit Eagle”.
Befitting for a king, God gave the Hermit Eagle a majestic crown, mighty wings for a high flight and sharp eyesight with capability to spot even an ant from up high in the air.
But the eagle was not satisfied and also wished for a long life, a wish which God granted.
The eagle soared high and ruled the sky for many years. When other birds sought shelter from a storm, the eagle soared above the clouds! It was the undisputed king of the skies. But by the time it was 40 years old, its long and flexible talons had become twisted so it could no longer grab a prey. Its sharp beak got bent over the years. Its feathers got thick so the wings got heavy and made it difficult to fly making it lose many a prey. Having grown weaker, the eagle flew high up in the mountains and built a new nest. There the eagle with only a few moth flies to eat, kept knocking its beak against a rock to sharpen it back but sadly it broke off. Dejected, the eagle kept praying to God to show it the right path. After 7 days and 7 nights, it noticed that a new beak started to grow back. In 2 months the new beak was fully grown. The eagle decided that it had to bear more pain before it could rule the skies again. So it plucked out the old and twisted talons. When its talons grew back, the eagle plucked out the thick feathers one by one - bearing the dreadful pain! And after this life of a hermit for 5 months, the eagle took the flight of rebirth and ruled the skies for 40 more years, after which it had to return to its nest and the cycle continues to this day. It is said, that the Hermit Eagle is spotted high up in the mountains of South America surveying the jungles, young and alert as ever.
Like the hermit eagle made a lifesaving and life changing decision so can we when the time demands. But before setting of on this new journey, we need to let go of our negative beliefs. We need to open up our minds and fly high like the eagle!
Like the hermit eagle we too can reinvigorate our thirst for knowledge; and reinvest time in mastering new technologies, techniques and tools. Thus we too can be prepared for the next big recession that economists keep warning us about. Although painful, this is the true way to growth. Moral: Having success now is no guarantee of eternal success. Change is inevitable after our skills are no longer as relevant as earlier or our knowledge is not as sharp. In order to survive and prosper we too have to undergo the process of change. Although painful, we also need to get rid of the unpleasant old memories, negative habits and our fixed mind set to do that.
Once we are freed from the past burdens, only then can we take advantage of the present with the right skills and more importantly the right attitude.