Some of what has been occupying my time and attention

I have been working on this project for fifteen fears.  It is a tool made up as a set of handmade cards plus commentary.  I am beginning to post them and work on them here as a next step.

Here is the first one.

 

Divine tests

Once there was a man who needed a mule. Someone down the street told him that there was one for sale nearby.  He went over to inspect the mule and the prospector that was selling him was enthusiastic.

“He’s a good Mule” the old guy said, “He never balks and does what you ask every time.”

This sounded good to the man and he bought the mule, which followed him home, just fine.

The next morning the man loaded the mule and was going to head out to the gold fields.  He gave a pull on the lead rope.  The mule didn’t move. He pulled again.  No moving.  He pulled harder and began yanking and pulling and swearing. The mule didn’t move.  The man was tired out and went to the old prospector who had sold him the mule and told him that the mule wasn’t moving and he thought he had been cheated.

The prospector shook his head and went to inspect the mule.   He looked at it for a moment, and said “Ahhhh” Then he picked up an axe handle and, Wham!!!Hit the mule a bash between the eyes.  “Now He’ll go” he said.

The new owner looked at the mule and at the old man and said,” I thought that you told me he didn’t need to be beaten to work.”

The old man said, “He doesn’t.”

“Well what do you call belting him between the eyes?”

“I call that ‘getting his attention’.”

Most of the time the things we are experiencing, could be described as “Getting our attention.”  If it is a test from God, It will be unexpected, it will be nothing you could have imagined, and a lot of times it is much less awful than it could be the first time.  The second time (If you are stupid and need a second time) look out.