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Moral Stories:
T
here was a boy who
was talented, creative
and extremely bright.
A natural leader, the kind
of
person
everyone
would normally have
wanted on their team or
project. But he was also
self-centred and had a
very bad temper. When
he got angry, he usually
said, and often did, some
very hurtful things. In
fact, he seemed to have
little regard for those
around him, even with
friends. So, naturally, he
had few.
As he grew, his parents
became concerned about
this personality flaw, and
pondered what they
should do. Finally, the
father had an idea, and he
struck a bargain with his
son. He gave him a bag
of nails, and a hammer.
“Whenever you lose your
temper,” he told the boy,
“I want you to really let
it out. Just take a nail and
drive it into the oak
boards of that old fence
out back. Hit that nail as
hard as you can!”
Of
course,
those
weathered oak boards in
that old fence were
tough, and the hammer
was mighty heavy, so it
wasn’t nearly as easy as
it
first
sounded.
Nevertheless, by the end
of the first day, the boy
had driven 37 nails into
the fence (That was one
angry young man!).
Gradually, over a period
of weeks, the number
dwindled down. Holding
his temper proved to be
easier than driving nails
into the fence! Finally
the day came when the
boy didn’t lose his
temper at all. He felt
mighty proud as he told
his parents about that
accomplishment.
“As a sign of your
success,”
his
father
responded, “you get to
PULL OUT one nail. In
fact, you can do that each
day that you don’t lose
your temper even once.”
Well,
many
weeks
passed. Finally one day
the young boy was able
to report proudly that all
the nails were gone.
At that point, the father
asked his son to the back
garden with him and to
take a good look at the
fence. “You have done
well, my son,” he said.
“But I want you to notice
the holes that are left. No
matter what happens
from now on, this fence
will never be the same.
Saying or doing hurtful
things in anger produces
the same kind of result.
There will always be a
scar. It won’t matter how
many times you say
you’re sorry, or how
many years pass, the scar
will still be there. And a
verbal wound is as bad as
a physical one. People
are much more valuable
than an old fence. They
make us smile. They help
us succeed. Some will
even become friends who
share our joys, and
support us through bad
times. And, if they trust
us, they will also open
their hearts to us. That
means we need to treat
everyone with love and
respect. We need to
prevent as many of those
scars as we can.”
A most valuable lesson,
don’t you think? And a
reminder most of us need
from time to time.
Everyone gets angry
occasionally. The real
test is what we DO with
it.
If we are wise, we will
spend our time building
bridges
rather
than
barriers
in
our
relationships.
This story is very apt and
relevant to everyday living.
Every human being needs to
read it and adhere to its
message of self control
when we are angry as it will
make the world a beautiful
place to live in.
Gift Major
3 April 2016
SECOND SUNDAY OF
EASTER OR DIVINE
MERCY SUNDAY
The Quality of Mercy
The works of William
Shakespeare are quoted
on an amazing variety of
Actually, I think this story is
subjects because of their
connected to me bcos I’m
wisdom and beauty.
very hot tempered. I must
T h e s e a r e h is m o st
try this nail-fence way.
f
a
mous words on mercy:
Ayush
“The quality of mercy is
I like the story very much as not strained. It droppeth
students we must control
as the gentle rain from
our temper in front of our
heaven upon the place
teachers and as high
beneath.
leaders of school too.
“It is twice blest: It
Sri July
blesseth him that gives
It is very good story! But it
and him that takes. ‘Tis
is so hard to change a
mightiest
in
th e
temper when the stupid
mightiest.
neighbour from the lower
Mercy is an attribute of
floor is smoking.
G
o
d
Himself…Earthly
Sharmishtha
power does show like
God’s
when
m e r cy
seasons justice.”
This is one excerpt
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
from Portia’s speech in
The Merchant of Venice.
Comments:
You may benefit from
I like the story very much! It
contemplating
t h o se
is related to the profession
words. You know Jesus
that I chose. As a teacher, I
should control my temper
said, “Blessed are the
because if not, what my
merciful for they shall
tongue said would cleave to
receive mercy.” Is there
the students forever. Hope
anyone who needs your
other teachers would read
m e r c y t od a y ?
this!
Ms. Erika M. Calaranan
This story is a fantastic way
to explain how things said
in anger can leave their
mark just as much as a kick
or punch. Working with
children everyday is full of
situations that require tales
just like this.
Lustypups
“God is our most
sincere and faithful
friend even when we
sadden him with our
bad behavior.”
The
Lord
is
merciful…abounding in
steadfast love.
Psalm 103:8
May I be as merciful as
You are, Lover of Souls.

Monday, 4 April
ANNUNCIATION OF THE
LORD
Beauty Appreciated
and Ignored
Help me enjoy the present
conversation and
rather than worry about
elicit key details.”
the next hour, day, week,  Avoid being
month or year, O Lord, to
solution-focused.
whom belongs all time
“Sometimes, people
and all the seasons.
just want a chance to
One April morning, New

talk through an issue
Yorkers passing a small
instead of identifying
park were stopped by its Tuesday, 5 April
a solution right away.
beauty. Two cherry trees St Vincent Ferrer, priest
It’s important to
were in full bloom. The Be a Better Listener
validate your friend’s
wind was sending their
feelings. Try, ‘That
pink petals swirling Being a good listener can
must have been so
through the air like pink benefit your home life,
frustrating!’
snow,
covering
the your career, and your Then you’ll have a better
so idea of what solutions
sidewalks.
In
the relationships,
background, a waterfall professional counsellor you
ca n
offer
if
Julia Hogan offered some necessary.
sparkled in the sun.
Many workers on their tips in Verily magazine:
Speak,
Lord…Your
way to offices paused to  Limit your
distractions. Silence servant is listening.
enjoy the sight. But not
1 Samuel 3:9
th e
park
attendant!
or put away your cell
Armed with a broom and
phone for the
Holy Spirit, teach me to
d u r a t io n o f y o u r
dustpan, he frantically
be a better listener.
conversation or
tried to sweep up petals

meeting.
as they floated down.
The expression on his  Adjust your body
Wednesday, 6 April
face made it clear that he
language. “Face the
Prayer and Cattle
saw the delicate beauty
person speaking
only as litter that would
while leaning slightly At the foot of the
Colorado Rockies rests
have to be tossed out
forward. Make
Abbey
of
St.
with the trash. He
frequent eye contact. the
completely missed the
Walburga which houses
N od y ou r h e a d t o
fleeting, fragile moment
signal understanding, a cloistered group of
of beauty the petals
and maintain an open Benedictine nuns. In
addition to a life of
p r o v id e d .
posture (that means
prayer, they also run a
Undue concern about
no crossed arms!).”
finishing our “to do” lists  Do a double-check.
self-sustaining farm on
can often blind us to the
their 250 acres of land.
“Ask clarifying
That farm has grown to
beauty in front of us
questions and
right now. Yes, we all
paraphrase what the include an increasinglythriving natural beef
have obligations. But we
speaker just
also have moments to
business.
communicated to
appreciate. They are just
NBC News’s Erica Hill
you. [And] be sure to
reported that the nuns
as real and just as
ask open-ended
hadn’t planned on selling
important.
questions…These
beef, but people kept
types of questions
Today’s
trouble
is
asking about it because
help deepen
enough for today.
their cattle were raised
Matthew 6:34
in a healthy way. Hill
said, “Last year, St.
Walburga
p r od u c e d
13,000
pounds
of
naturally-raised beef for
80 local families—and
that still doesn’t meet the
demand.”
Sister Maria-Walburga
Schortemeyer says the
farm work complements
t h e ir
spirituality:
“Having an agrarian part
of our life keeps us
rooted to the earth…We
try hard to run it in a
reverent
way.
The
animals are treated with
care.”
However, she never
loses sight of their real
goal: “We’re not blind,
even in our enclosure, to
the great sorrows that
many people experience.
I believe…that through
prayer we can have an
impact.”
Jackson is an actor
known for his work on
General Hospital and
Nashville, but he is also a
long-time musician who
created the band Enation
with his brother Richard
Lee and their friend
Daniel Sweatt. One of the
common threads in their
song writing is spiritual
d e pt h ,
and
that’s
especially true of their
latest
album
Radio
Cinematic.
During a Christopher
Closeup
interview,
Jonathan said the new
record was inspired by
Chesterton’s idea that
God invites us to enter a
second childhood as we
get older and claim a
new sense of joy in life:
“Growing up, the world
has its way of beating
you down. So in the
band, we’ve always seen
You cause the grass to joy and hope as a kind of
grow for the cattle.
rebellion. It’s not this
Psalm 104:14
passive, soft thing that
Bless farmers and all people oftentimes think.
efforts to feed the hungry, It actually comes from
Lord.
having to fight.”

God wants you to be
joyful. Claim that special
Thursday, 7 April
gift.
St John Baptist de la
A cheerful heart is a
Salle, priest
good medicine, but a
Joy is a Rebellion
downcast spirit dries
Against the World
up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
There aren’t a lot of rock
albums out there that Preserve me from giving
were partially inspired in to cynicism, Lord. Help
by
theologian
G.K. me fight to reclaim Your
Chesterton, so Jonathan joy.
Jackson and his band

Enation have created
something unique.
Friday, 8 April
Escaping a War Zone
“How long shall it be till
th e
end
of
these
troubles?” That’s a quote
from the Book of Daniel
that’s spoken by a
refugee
fr om
the
Sudanese Civil War in the
movie The Good Lie—and
it accurately reflects the
violence and hardship
endured by boys and
girls there throughout
those horrific times.
During the mid-1980s,
m or e
than
100,000
children in Sudan were
displaced or orphaned
because of the civil war
that raged for political
and religious reasons.
Many of them found their
way to refugee camps
and,
eventually,
th e
United States.
Screenwriter Margaret
Nagle not only talked
with refugees, but also
interviewed volunteers,
pastors, and church
leaders who helped these
young
people.
And
producer Brian Grazer
said, “Around the time
we were making the
movie, I brought my kids
to an orphanage in Kenya
because I wanted them
to
understand
and
appreciate the freedoms
and privileges they have
in their lives. I think
that’s one of the things
our film speaks to: being
grateful and thanking
God for what we have.
And perhaps to ignite
something in us to help all adds up. In April
where we can, however 2015,
Zach
raised
we can.”
$5,300,
enough
to
purchase 37 wheelchairs.
He fled away and The youngster hopes his
escaped.
organization will keep
1 Samuel 19:12 growing.
“Imagine if there were
O Divine Wisdom, guide
hundreds
of
Zach’s
those fleeing violence to
Shacks,” Zach told People
safety.
magazine. “Nobody who

needs
a
wheelchair
should have to go
Saturday, 9 April
without one just because
Zach’s Shack
they can’t afford it.”
When Zach Francom was
eight years old, he
opened up his own
lemonade and cookie
stand,
called
Zach’s
Shack. While he isn’t the
first boy to have a
lemonade stand, he does
stand out because he
gives his proceeds to
those who cannot afford
to buy a wheelchair. The
child got the idea when
his class raised $86 to
donate
to
LDS
Philanthropies, a charity
that provides wheelchairs for people in
developing
countries
who need them.
What started out as a
simple
gesture
of
altruism on Zach’s part
has evolved into an
annual
philanthropic
event for the past four
y e a r s.
Every
April,
hundreds of people line
up in front of Zach’s
Shack in Provo, Utah, to
donate to his cause. He
only charges 50 cents for
a glass of lemonade, and
a dollar per cookie, but it
Whoever
gives…will
lack nothing.
Proverbs 28:27
Lord, may we learn from
the selfless giving of our
children.
THREE MINUTES A DAY
VOLUME 49/50
THE CHRISTOPHERS

Guru Gobind Singh
and The Donkey
O
Original Source:
RE Today
Spring 1995.