The enormous redwood tree, ancient and failing, trembled. With a crackling, tearing sound, the unimaginable began to happen. Near the base, one side of the giant trunk began to crumple, like the…
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Trust
“Ask the Creator for what you want,” they told her, “and the Creator will always answer you.” They had told her that since she was a baby. Now she was almost seven.…
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Seeing, before and afterward
The lean man closed the door to his old truck. It was stacked high with firewood for me. Slowly he walked toward me, and put out his hand. “Good day,” he said.…
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The eight winds
The Buddhists say there are eight winds. They are gain and loss, praise and ridicule, credit and blame, and suffering and joy. If you aren’t aware of them, they will blow you…
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True importance
Jean was out walking with his grandfather in Paris. At one point, they saw a shoemaker being insulted by a customer who claimed that there was something wrong with his shoes. The…
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The Moonlight Sonata
One evening renowned composer Beethoven and a friend were taking a walk. As they were passing through a narrow, dark street, they heard music coming from a little house. “Hush!” Beethoven said.…
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The black man and kindness
We are at the restaurant of a German University. A red-haired student, and undeniably German, takes her tray and sits down at her table. She then realises she has forgotten her cutlery…
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‘Beauty remains; pain ends up passing’
Ever since he was young, the painter Henri Matisse used to visit the great Renoir at his atelier every week. When Renoir was crippled with arthritis, Matisse began to visit him daily,…
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A debt of gratitude
“What are you planting?” the man asked his neighbour. “Mango trees,” replied the neighbour. “Do you expect to eat their fruit in your lifetime?” “It occurred to me the other day,” said…
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Greater love
Once upon a time there was a poor shepherd who lived in a small hut in the wilderness. He grazed his camels and goats, collected some fruits and roots, and with the…