2 Traveling Wizards

Things aren't always what they seem..

Two traveling wizards stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the wizards stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the wizards were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older wizard saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger wizard asked why, the older wizard replied," Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the wizards sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the wizards found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger wizard was infuriated and asked the older wizard how could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die. "Things aren't always what they seem," the older wizard replied.

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.

This is sometimes exactly what we do when things don't turn out the way we think they should. We need to cultivate our ability to be curious and to suspend judgment until we ask the questions that allow us to understand what really happened.