Modern day parable to reflect on during the week:
A young lady was waiting for her flight in the morning in a big airport. As she needed to wait many hours, she decide to buy a book, and a pack of cookies. She sat down in an arm chair in the waiting area to rest and read in peace.
Beside the arm chair where the pack of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading.
When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She thought, “What the nerve! If I was in the mood, I would punch him in the face! ”
For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This infuriated her, but she didn’t want to cause a scene. When only one cookie remained, she thought “Ah! What is this abusive man going to do now?” Then the man took the last cookie, divided it in half, and giving her one half.
“Now that’s too much!”, she thought. She was much too angry now. In a huff, she took her book, and her things, and stormed onto the boarding plane. She sat down in her seat on the plane. She looked through her purse to take out her eye glasses, and to her surprise: her packet of cookies was there untouched, unopened!
She felt so ashamed. She realized that she was wrong. She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse: the man had been dividing his cookies with her, without feeling anger or bitter, while she had been very angry thinking she was dividing her own cookies with him! And now there was no possible chance to make things right by explaining to the man the misunderstanding.
