A Parable

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There was once an old man who despite his old age was handsome with dark curly hair. This old man had a piece of gem. He loved this gem and was honored greatly because of it. Every time he sat in the council of men, he was given a prestigious seat, for they all knew the of the precious gem that he possessed.

One day, as was inevitable, he allowed the pride to get to his head and heart. He began to be arrogant in his behavior. He began to expect the best seat at every occasion. Soon some of the men from the council became angry --worse, they began to reveal their own bad trait and was envious!

Now it wasn't so pleasant to sit at the council of men. Angry words abound, distrust was rampant, things were not good.

At last, the old man knowing the cause of it all went to his backyard and threw his precious gem into the mud. It sank deeply and was gone.

Afterwards, people found out what had happened to his gem. They began to chide the poor old man and derided him.

Now he was given the worse seat when he sat at the council. Sometimes they would not even invite him to the council! When there, he received scorn after scorn and ridicule after ridicule. The men made fun of his home because he did not have all the convenience that some had. They derided him because he did not have the same pursuits and goals as they did.

In his forlorn, desparate, and confused state, he tried to please them all. But it only made things worse!

Finally, his young daughter could not stand it any longer. She approached her father and demanded that he fetch back the gem he had thrown out. The problem was not the gem, but his ensuing arrogance! Accepting his daughter's wisdom he attempted to retrieve the gem.

Full of dirt and mud, he pursued his goal. Many men would stop by and see him in that sorry state. Despite all the laughter directed at him, he doggedly pursued his gem. Those who had been angered by his arrogance, were glad to see him finally straightening out. Those who had been envious, became afraid that he may regain his glorious stature again. Those were the ones who laughed at him and tried to dissuade him from his travails.

Let's stop there for now....