Monday, June 07, 2004 AD Another Great Parable About Submission (Excerpted from an ETC article.)
An older man asks his grown son to come for a visit. He explains, “Son, I won’t be around forever. And I want your mother to be comfortable when I’m gone. Would you please help me out? I want you to take those rental properties I’ve accumulated over the years, and I want you to sell them. I’m sure in a year or two they would reach their peak value, but if we sell now we’ll still get a fine return, and there will be no chance your mother will be burdened with them.” The son left the meeting with a greater appreciation for the wisdom of his father. He obviously was a man who thought things through. And so the son did as he was asked.
A few weeks later the father called again. “Son,” he said, “you know how your mother just loves to sit and rock on our front porch in the evenings. The porch has been a blessing to us, but it, as I am, is getting on in years. Would you please, over the holiday weekend, tear it down, but put up a new one for your mother? I just hate the thought of her breaking through a rotten section and breaking an ankle after I’m gone.” The son was again impressed with the wisdom of his father. He was not only financially astute, but practical even in small matters. He got the job done.
A few weeks later the father called a third time. “Son, I have one more job for you. That piece of property we bought on the west edge of town, I’d like you to sell that too. It seems like the town is expanding more eastward, and so I’m guessing the value is at its peak. Please sell it, and put the money in the bank with the other.”
The son went away realizing that his father too had feet of clay. The property was sure to spike up in value with the new Wal-Mart coming in nearby, and because it was just a piece of land, there was no upkeep his mother would have to worry about. And so, worrying that perhaps his father’s mind wasn’t as sharp as it once was, he determined not to sell the property.
Here is the question: how many times did the son obey the father? Count them up now. The correct answer is none. In each instance the son evaluated the options and chose what he thought was best. That his view and his father’s view coincided twice is beside the point. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 6/07/2004 02:18:00 PM
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