A Soulful Journey

In the novel, "The Country of the Pointed Firs," a woman notices a number of painted wooden stakes around the property of a retired she captain, Elijah Tilley. She asks the captain why those wooden stakes are driven in the ground. Tilley tells her that when he first bought the farm and plowed the ground, every once in a while his plow would snag on the large rock underneath the surface of the ground. The snags not only slowed his progress but dulled his plow. So he put up stakes to show where the underneath rocks relocated so he could avoid them. The author says that’s what the 10 Commandments are all about. God has said that these are trouble spots in life. Avoid them and you will not snag your plow.

A couple was driving down a country road when they came to a muddy hole in the road.   Their car became stuck, wheels spun, mud flew.   They were very upset but not for long.   A few minutes later a man, driving a team of horses appeared.   He stopped and offered to pull them out of the mud for $50.   They readily agreed, and minutes later the car was free.   As they paid the farmer, he mentioned, “You know you’re the tenth car I’ve helped out today.”   They were amazed. “Really?   When do you have time to plough your field?   At night?   “Oh no,” said the farmer. “At night I put water in the hole.”

I live in a farming community.   One windy day, after I’d hung my laundry out to dry, I returned to my house just in time to notice the farmer who rents the neighboring field had begun to plow, sending clouds of dust toward the wet clothes hanging on my lie. Quickly shutting the windows, I hurried outside to retrieve the clothes.   But when I got to the line, the roaring plow had disappeared. Several days later I ran into the farmer and asked him about the incident.   With a smile he told me that, yes, he remembered the day.   As soon as he saw my clothes on the line and realized which way the wind was blowing, he had decided to plow elsewhere and return to that field later.  Our town has no theaters or fancy restaurants, but we do have good friends and neighbors who care about each other – as well as their laundry.   –Mary Love in Reader’s Digest This may not qualify as "tzedaka" but it is a righteous way of thinking.  Every moment has ...

"First tell me this: Is there some secluded spot in the vicinity where I can go to pray?" Rebbe   Nachman asked. He had just arrived in Breslov, the town whose name the Breslov movement has borne ever since. "I know of a place that would be most suitable, the Hasid replied, "but it's quite far from here." "Far?" the Rebbe exclaimed. "What do you mean by 'far'? Far from the mind…or from the heart?" The Gentle Weapon, p. 2 Rebbe Nachman later taught: When your heart yearns, distance is no obstacle.

A developer wanted to buy a farmer’s field to put up condominiums.   “What will you pay?” asked the farmer. The developer said, “We want to do the right thing.   We will pay you what the field is worth.” The farmer replied, “I’ll be darned if I’ll sell it for that!” Would this conversation ever take place if people acted with integrity?   Spoke the truth?   If not, perhaps we have a head-start on living the best life possible.