Awhile back, I was feeling disappointed and discouraged; something hadn’t gone the way I’d hoped. (I don’t even remember what it was now.) My brother told me a story that made a strong impression on me. I was curious as to the origin of the story so I looked it up; it’s actually a parable from the book of Job, which I believe we can apply to our lives and our writing careers. I’d like to share this story with you.
There was an old man who lived in a tiny village. The man was poor but he was envied by the other villagers because he owned a beautiful white horse. The villagers encouraged him to sell the horse so he’d have some money but he refused. One morning, he discovered that the horse was not in the stable. The villagers all told him that he was a fool for not having sold it; that the horse was stolen and it was a curse. The old man replied, “Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. We only have a fragment; only God sees the whole picture.”
Then, one day, the horse returned and brought with it a dozen wild horses. Evidently it had not been stolen; it had run away. The villagers told the old man, “You were right. What we thought was a curse, was a blessing.” Once again, the old man told them, “Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.”
The old man had a son who began to train the wild horses so that his father could sell them but he fell from one of the horses and broke both of his legs. The villagers said to the old man, “You proved we were wrong. You are still poor and your only son will not be able to help you now. The dozen horses were a curse.” “Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t,” the old man said.
A few weeks later, war broke out in the country. All young men in the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. The villagers gathered around the old man, crying and screaming, “You were right. Your son’s accident was a blessing. Our sons will probably be killed but at least he is with you.” The old man finally told them, “It is impossible to talk with you. You always make judgments. You read only one page of a book. How can you judge the whole book? No one knows if something is a blessing or a curse. Only God knows.”
