An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the
house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He
would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as
a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in
his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate
way to end a dedicated career.
When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect
the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and
said, "This is your house... my gift to you."
The carpenter was shocked!
What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house,
he would have done it all so differently.
So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the
building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built.
If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.
But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or
erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you
make today, helps build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely!
SAND AND STONE
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey
they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped
was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED
ME IN THE FACE.”
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to
take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and
started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered
from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: “TODAY MY BEST
FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.”
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After
I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of
forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it
in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”
Learn to write your hurts in the sand, and to carve your benefits in stone.
BUILDING YOUR HOUSE
100 Moral Stories 66
