St.
Paul of the Cross Retreat Center
Thought
for the Day
Last
Updated September 7, 2003
When Adversity Knocks...
A young woman went
to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for
her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.
She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was
solved a new one arose.
.
Her mother took
her to the kitchen and she filled three pots with water. In the first,
she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed
ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word. In
about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners.
.
She fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed
them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what do you see?” “Carrots,
eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
.
She brought her
closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were
soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off
the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to
sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The
daughter then asked. “What's the point, mother?”
.
Her mother explained
that each of these objects had faced the same adversity --boiling water
-- but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting.
However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became
weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its
liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside
became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they
were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
.
“Which are you?”
she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you
respond? Are you a carrot , an egg, or a coffee bean?"
.
Are you the carrot
that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do you wilt and become
soft and lose your strength?
.
Are you the egg
that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did you
have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship
or some other trial, have you become hardened and stiff? Does your shell
look the same, but on the inside are you bitter and tough with a stiff
spirit and a hardened heart?
.
Or are you like
the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance
that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance
and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you
get better and change the situation around you.
.
When the hours
are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another
level? Which are you?
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