ENCHANTING ECHOES
A father and his son
were walking along a road in a mountain range. All around them, they could see majestic
mountains with magnificent beauty. Suddenly the son stepped on a shaky stone,
slipped and fell down. He cried aloud in great pain. To his surprise, he heard
a similar cry from the distant mountainside. He turned around and asked aloud,
"Hey! Who are you?" The ghostly voice replied the same question,
"Hey! Who are you?" The boy quickly lost his temper. He shouted,
"Come out, you coward and show me your face!" To his surprise, the weird
voice repeated his threatening words.
The boy got furious and
shouted a chain of foul words at the top of his voice and received the same
words in return. He complained to his father and sought his help to punish the
enigmatic enemy. The wise father was watching the events with a smile. He asked
his son to say aloud, "You are a good boy. I love you." The boy
obeyed and was glad to hear the same nice words of welcome from his apparent
opponent.
The boy was quite confused. he asked his
father about the mystery. The father explained the mechanism of 'echo' as a
reflection of his sound from the distant mountain ranges. He added, "If
you shout bad words, you will hear similar words as echo. If you send
blessings, you will be blessed in return. This is true of life too. When we do
good deeds for others, we receive similar gifts from others." The boy was
enlightened. He sang a hymn melodiously and was overjoyed to hear its enchanting
echoes.
Our life is a reflection
of our actions. It gives back to us whatever we say or do. To receive love, we
must shower love on others. Even in the midst of misfortune, hardship and
trials, let us speak only positive words which comfort others.
"A person will reap exactly what he sows"
{Galatians 6: 7}. "You will
have to live with the consequences of everything you say. What you say can
preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words"
{Proverbs 18: 20, 21}.
Jesus taught us,
""You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give
account of every useless word he has ever spoken. Your words will be used to
judge you-- to declare you either innocent or guilty" {Matthew 12: 36, 37}.
St. Paul advises, "
Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and
provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you....Get
rid of all bitterness, passion and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more
hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one
another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ" {
Ephesians 4: 29-32}.
..................................................................................................
© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin
University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala,
India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S.
John and Neil John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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