Blog From The Past

Here is an interesting story written by Rabbi Ahron Hoch. I thought it was worth sharing.

“There once was a farmer who owned a horse. And one day the horse ran away. All the people in the town came to console him because of the loss. "Oh, I don't know," said the farmer, "maybe it's a bad thing and maybe it's not."

A few days later, the horse returned to the farm accompanied by 20 other horses. (Apparently he had found some wild horses and made friends!) All the townspeople came to congratulate him: "Now you have a stable full of horses!" "Oh, I don't know," said the farmer, "maybe it's a good thing and maybe it's not."

A few days later, the farmer's son was out riding one of the new horses. The horse got wild and threw him off, breaking the son's leg. So all the people in town came to console the farmer because of the accident. "Oh, I don't know," said the farmer, "maybe it's a bad thing and maybe it's not."

A few days later, the government declared war and instituted a draft of all able-bodied young men. They came to the town and carted off hundreds of young men, except for the farmer's son who had a broken leg. "Now I know," said the farmer, "that it was a good thing my horse ran away."

Why I Write

I figured it was time I got serious about blogging again, and in more ways than one. For starters, I need to get back in the habit of writing daily. I like to write and I want to write, so it’s important that I write more frequently so I can be a better writer. I bet you didn’t think I could write “write” so many times in one sentence, huh? Anyway, I also need to put the “serious” back into my blog posts. Every time I try to start blogging again I usually just write about movies or something else complete devoid of meaningful substance. I guess you could say my blog posts have been too much junk food and not enough lean meats and vegetables. This should change, and it should change starting now.

I find it hard to write “serious” blog posts because it means that I need to be more open about sharing what is going on inside my head. I am a private person, and I don’t like to talk about my inner thoughts on a regular basis. But, I believe that the Lord lately has shown me how I might be too much of a private person. My tendency towards privacy makes it hard for me to develop deep, meaningful relationships. Foremost is my relationship with the Lord. If I am not willing to bring everything to Him—every thought, desire, want, need, and request—then what kind of relationship do I have with my creator and Saviour? I believe it would be a shallow one, where growth is stagnant, or even nonexistent.

Therefore, I have been acutely aware lately of being more open with God in my prayers—more free, you could say. After all, he already knows what is going through my mind, what is going on in my life. He wants me to bring everything that is going on in my life to him, and I am finding that doing so brings a great reward—increased closeness with my God.

I also know, though, that I need to be more open with those around me, especially my family and those I trust and admire most. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family and great friends. I know that I will grow in my relationship with them if I am more open with them. To do so will require me to let them into my life a little bit more, to get a glimpse of what is going through my mind.

So, I hope this post is the first of many, and that it I can use it to be more open, honest, and free. Hopefully, my openness on this blog can mirror what is going on in my relationship with Christ and others around me.