Once upon a time, in a remote village, somewhere on Mother Earth, a man sat on a pile of hey, in his dirty, empty yard, crying his heart out mourning the death of his goat! There was nothing he could do, the man thought.
He cried, and cried and then… he cried some more!!!!
It was almost dark when, for a moment, he snapped out of this unfortunate trance. He raised his eyes to the sky. Let’s assume, seeking help from the All Mighty that most people remember when they need help!
… much to his shock, as he raised his eyes, the man saw an Angel, all dressed in white, looking straight at him, he wasn’t even blinking… on a second guess, it was a ‘she’ angel, an Angela!!!!!
“Why are you crying?” Angela asked.
“Be it as it may,” the man answered, ” my only goat died…”
From time to time, he stopped telling his story as he looked into his neighbor’s well taken care of yard and goats’ enclosure . He saw three white goats, clean and well fed, but not obese! They kept eating off of the green grass, available everywhere in his neighbor’s yard.
Hmm… our man thought, why don’t I have such green grass in my yard??? Then, our man remembered… yeah, he should have re-seeded a few months prior, but he… forgot!
As he continued telling his story to Angela, he looked more and more devastated, tears and all, explaining that now his children will have no milk, nor would they be able to make any of the diary products which always helped them survive the rough winters!!!
The man cried hard. He looked genuinely heart-broken and didn’t even use the aid of an onion to help his tears look authentic!
The ‘Angela,’ who, by now you might have guessed, was God’s ‘ Mediator,’ didn’t show any emotions or act as being on one’s side or the other’s. Truth be told, she did feel sorry for the poor man and his kids. To hide her sadness, she acted as if she had a bad cold, blew her nose, and wiped off her tears.
“Let me help you,” Angela said, ” God will grant you ONE wish, one wish alone, no matter how impossible it may look to you. Think hard, as this is your one in a life time opportunity! What would your wish be?”
The man’s face lit up, his eyes sparkled. He smiled, and after careful consideration, he said:
“Oh God, make my neighbor’s goats die too!”
What is the LESSON we learn? I am awaiting with interest your own “endings” to the story. Please share.
My thoughts on the topic:
This is an old, old story and as in the story, so in life:
Which would you rather wish? What would you rather have happen, good or bad and why is it that so many “look in the neighbor’s yard?”
As we swim through life, we will discover just how true this saying is:
‘Live and let live!’
When in despair, remember, there would always be the Angels and Angelas ready to help you in the name of God. The ONLY condition is for YOU to LOOK UP AND SEE!
Rodica Mihalis. M.S. Counseling and Clinical Psychology
https://www.proventherapy.com/Rodica
Excellent English version of “capra vecinului” 🙂 I thought this is a typical Romanian approach but it seems that the poor goat must die in many cultures. Very sad…
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Dear Raluca,
I don’t know how you “uncovered” my blog, but I sure am glad you did!
Indeed the story IS, as I stated in the post, a modern version of “sa moara si capra vecinului.” It does NOT belong to a different culture, I simply used my imagination to “upgrade” the story, in hopes it will resonate with all cultures.
I was born in Romania and the story reflects my roots. As they say, have wings to fly, but never forget your roots.
If you ever wish to reach me directly, my email is rodimihalis@gmail.com
Thank you for reading and for the excellent comment.
Rodica
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