Great Stories Vol 1

[JOYce]

MasterMind of a Potter (JOYce-8)

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery, especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. In this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. It was unlike any other they had ever seen. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. "You don't understand, " it said. " I haven't always been a teacup".

"There was a time when I was a piece of old, hard red clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone!' But he only smiled and said, ' Not yet.'"

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel, " the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'"

"Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, ' Not yet.'"

"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better, ' I said. Then he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded. 'Not yet'"

" And suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged, I pleaded, I screamed, I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, "Not yet.'"

"Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said. ' Look at yourself." And I did. I said, ' That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful....I'm beautiful.'"

" ' I want you to remember; then,' he said, ' I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"

Moral:

God knows what He's doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, he only puts us to all these tests and trials so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

[JOYce]

The Man Without A Face A True Story (J-15)

Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New

York State to Australia to take advantage of a work

opportunity there. Part of this man's family was

handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the

circus as a trapeze artist or an actor. This young

fellow, biding g his time until a circus job or even

one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local

shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town.

Walking home from work one evening this young man was

attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead

of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted.

However they bested him easily and proceeded to beat

him to a pulp.

They mashed his face with their boots, and kicked and

beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for

dead. When the police happened to find him lying in

the road they assumed he was dead and called for the

Morgue Wagon.

On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp

for air, and they immediately took him to the

emergency unit at the hospital.

When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her

horror, that his young man no longer had a face. Each

eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms

fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face,

all is teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost

completely torn from his skull.

Although his life was spared he spent over year in the

hospital. When he finally left his body may have

healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He was

no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.

When the young man started to look for work again he

was turned down by everyone just on account of the way

he looked. One potential employer suggested to him

that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man

Who Had No Face. And he did this for a while. He was

still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be

seen in his company.

He had thoughts of suicide. This went on for five

years.

One day he passed a church and sought some solace

there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who

had saw him sobbing while kneeling in a pew.

The priest took pity on him and took him to the

rectory where they talked at length. The priest was

impressed with him to such a degree that he said that

he would do everything possible for him that could be

done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man

would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and

trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous

life.

The young man went to Mass and communion every day,

and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God

to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the

best man he could ever be in His eyes.

The priest, through his personal contacts was able to

secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in

Australia. There would be no cost to the young man, as

the doctor was the priest's best friend. The doctor

too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook

now on life, even though he had experienced the worse,

was filled with good humor and love.

The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best

dental work was also done for him. The young man

became everything he promised God he would be.

He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife,

and many children, and success in an industry which

would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a

career if not for the goodness of God and the love of

the people who cared for him. This he acknowledges

publicly.

The young man was and is Mel Gibson.

Mel Gibson ---- Australian actor (born in the United

States in 1956)

His life was the inspiration for his production of the

movie "The Man Without A Face." He is to be admired by

all of us as a God fearing man, a political

conservative, and an example to all as a true man of

courage.

And to think I admired him before I knew any of this!

He is quite a man!

[Ideal Singh]

Very touching and simply amazing story !!

Keep the faith in Him... and be in Chardi Kala... thanx for Sharing... Keep posting...

[JOYce]

FAITH A Conversation J-16

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on, “The problem science has with Krishna”. He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Professor: You are a Hare Krishna devotee, aren't you, son?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to Krishna to heal him. Most of us

would attempt to help others who are ill. But Krishna didn't. How is this Krishna good then? Hmm?

(The student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start Again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(The student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in

the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(The student has no answer.)

Prof: Tell me, son. Do you believe in Krishna?

Student: Yes, professor, I do.

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around

you. Have you ever seen Krishna?

Student : No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your Krishna?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your Krishna, tasted your Krishna, smelt your Krishna? Have

you ever had any sensory perception of Krishna or God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your Krishna

doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes, Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat,

a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called Cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have

low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light.....But if you have no light

constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is Life and then

there is Death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, professor. Do you teach tour students

that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot

even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt it, touched or

smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face Unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir. The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

Love All Serve All .......Be Happy Always.