The Cross: power and wisdom of God. Contentment

Lessons from a Peasant family

A landless peasant couple decided to abandon their hard life in the countryside.  They moved to a small town where they rented a small shed on a piece of property next to a wealthy man's house.  It was a rundown shed but with little work, they were able to make their home.  They even made a small patio to enjoy the sun and the air.  They were woodcutters, and the only trade they knew was to fetch firewood from a nearest forest and sell it in the market.  Most people of that town used firewood for fuel; this provided the couple a stable means for their livelihood.

      Everyday early in the morning they would go into the forest and by evening they would be carrying two bundles of firewood on their backs to sell it in the market.  The money was enough for them to buy daily food and even enjoy an occasional rest and recreation.  Every evening, after the hard work of fetching and selling the wood, the couple would enjoy a good meal and then sit in the patio.  They would chat about their life in the village, their first love, and their new life in the city.  Even though they could not have any children, they were happy to be with one another, they loved each other very deeply.  Turn by turn, they would massage each other's back; carrying a heavy load from a distance everyday had created a kind of stiffness in their back and neck, and being massaged with oil or other herbs gave them great relief. 

      The couple loved each other so dearly.  Often they would take a walk nearby their home and even though it was not culturally accepted to hold wife's hand in public, the husband would grab his wife's hand and continue to walk as if no one was looking at them.  She felt a tinge of embarrassment at first when she noticed how people were staring at them, but as the time went by, she loved being hold by her loving husband and was proud to be married to this man.  They had a beautiful life and were so content to live it they way it has turned out; they would not change it for anything.

      The rich man next to their shed had a beautiful house with a terrace garden.  They even had servants to take care of the gardens and the house.  The house was always busy, people keep coming and going.  Every evening, the wife of the rich man would sit in the terrace garden and observe the woodcutter's family down sitting in their patio.  She would notice how affectionate the man was to his wife and how content they looked.  She began to compare her life and theirs and found out that she had no happiness at all.  Husband never took the time to spend with the wife and children; he was always busy in making money.  Most of the time he stayed out of home due his business and even the children had become very cold to each other.  The beautiful house felt so cold and empty even though it was filled with wonderful things husband had bought. 

      One evening when her husband was at home, she asked him to join her in the terrace.  As they sat on the roof chairs, the woodcutter couple below also came out to sit in their patio.  The rich man's wife began to explain to her husband about this couple as how happy and content they were, and how the rich couple had lost the true sense of happiness.  After his wife finished speaking, the rich husband said, "don't worry, their happiness will be over soon" and he went down. 

      The next day, when the woodcutter family had gone to fetch the firewood, the rich man threw a big bundle of money inside their shed.  When the couple returned, they were so surprised to find the money.  With fear and nervousness, they waited if someone would come and claim the money, but no one came.  After realizing that they could have the money, carefully they counted it and found out it was more than what they could have earned in five years.  The whole night they could not sleep; their minds struggled to decide as what to do with this money.  Finally in the morning, husband came up with the idea; they would purchase a piece of property and build their own house in town.  But the money was not sufficient.  So, the husband came up with the plan to earn the remaining money by cutting down their expenses, cutting down their free time and working harder.  Instead of one trip to the jungle, they began to make two trips.  Instead of going for a walk in the weekends, they began to continue to fetch the firewood.  Instead of sitting on the patio every evening, they began to stay late in the market to sell their remaining firewood.  Instead of the home cooked meal, they began to eat from the street vendors and come home only to sleep.  No sooner, the little hut went into some kind of quietness.  There was no laughter; there was no light in the house.  Every day before the dawn they left and they came late at night.  No one saw the couple taking a walk together during the weekends anymore.

      One night the rich neighbors heard a quarrel taking place in the hut.  Wife was shouting about the hardship the money had brought.  She complained about the increasing pain in her back and the lack of rest and proper food.  She lamented how happy she was before the money came into their life; ever since the money came, their life became so miserable.  Husband tried to calm her down.  He told her to think about how happy they would be when they would be able to build their own house in town, and so on and so forth.  That night she became calm and went to sleep.  But this quarrel did not end; every night there would be some kind of commotion in the hut.  Husband became very rude and demanded the wife to obey him and do what he says.  Very soon, due to the quarrels, unhappiness, lack of rest and proper food, the couple's health deteriorated badly.  They could never come up with the money to own their own house in town. 

      The greatest loss was not that they could not own a house in town; the greatest loss was the loss of their love for one another, their happiness and contentment.  Greed for more is the greatest thief of what we have right now.  The Bible is right in saying that "contentment with godliness is great gain"!