God’s Blessings
Once a holy man and his student were walking from village to village. Suddenly a horse drawn carriage came lunging around the corner, with the driver in a great rage, whipping the horses and letting out great torrents of curses. It soon became apparent that the carriage would not slow or swerve, and it was only by quickly jumping into the ditch by the side of the road that they were able to avoid great injury.
Bruised and shaken, they looked at the carriage as it careened out of control down the road. The student shook his fist and screamed after the driver. But the teacher waved and calmly called out, “May all of God’s blessings be upon you.”
The student was dumbfounded by the teacher’s response. “This man almost killed us with his recklessness. How can you wish him all of God’s blessings?”
The teacher replied, “Yes, his anger and carelessness almost killed us, and may yet do great harm to others. Tell me then, who more than this man needs God’s blessings?”
A Storytell friend (I believe it was Bob Kanegis) sent me the tale and a list of sources:
- Once Upon a Time Storytelling to Teach Character and Prevent Bullying by Elisa Davy Pearmain
- Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World edited by Elisa Pearmain (Pilgrim Press, 1998)
- Buddha Is As Buddha Does by Surya Das (Harper One, 2008)
- Milk from the Bulls Horn: Tales of Nurturing Men by Doug Lipman (Yellow Moon Press, 1986)
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