5/31/2008

Wisdom from the Aquarium

Lesson from the Goldfish
By Nellie Feng
FoodForThought - InJesus.com

There are no set formulas for finding insights. However, you will know for certain when you have chanced upon one. A profound understanding comes with it.

Take the dying of our goldfish for instance. We are all aware that a goldfish does not have a high survival rate. Our aquarium has seen its share of fish that swam and died due to one cause or another.

Now, there are two (one orange, one black) gold fishes and a shark which outlived the rest. Ever frolicking in the water, they became a welcome sight every time we get home. It was relaxing to watch them play nonstop with the pebbles at the bottom of the aquarium.

Then the slow moving gold-fishes became infested with parasite. People in our house took turns scooping them out of the water to pry loose the blood sucking parasites with surgical tweezers.

Gradually, their solid tails were reduced into shreds. The orange one started swimming belly up. The black one's eyes turned into opaque. Their scales were peppered with some whitish fungus. Even the shark (which went about its business swimming briskly as usual) began to have fungal spots sprouting all over its body too!

It was disturbing to realize that they may all eventually die. Day in and day out we would peer into the aquarium to see whether the orange one, swimming feebly belly up, is still breathing or not. The black one was already utterly blind.

My son asked " Why not help them end their misery? They would die anyway."

Out of the blue this is what I answered him: "Let us allow them to spend their last days in our aquarium undisturbed because this is their home. Like the beloved old people in our lives, I believe one of the most loving gesture is letting them live their last days peacefully in the place they call home."

To make the story short, our orange goldfish swam belly up for five days more then stopped breathing. To prevent stray cats from eating it, we buried it in the garden. The black one died two days after, it was buried beside the orange one. The shark survived, it is now swimming happily in our aquarium -- the place it calls home.

Be it an ant, a goldfish, a shark, or a man, do you believe as I firmly believe that The Good Lord has a special purpose for each of His creation?

We may not see the whole picture yet, but His plans to raise us up will become evident in the end.

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Goodbye Ka Bel...