I’d like to share with one of the short stories imparted to us by one of the speakers as part of the latest Information Systems Communication Session a couple of weeks ago. I forgot the name mentioned and we were not informed of the author so please bear with me if I changed the story as told. I’m retelling the story with the best of my memory.
The King and His Trusted Servant
Once upon a time, there was a King named Lim Ah Hong and he has a trusted servant friend named Lin Feng. The king loves to hunt in the forest and he always tag along Lin Feng who willingly and happily oblige. The servant carries and loads the gun while Lim Ah Hong will fire the shot. Ling Feng occasionally fires the guns, too. No wonder they enjoy what they are doing.
However, in one of their hunting trips, tragedy struck. The gun misfired which at that early age of the weapon, is very common. Unfortunately, the accident severed Lim Ah Hong’s finger and since Lin Feng is the one who prepares the gun, he thought it was him who is to blame. The king is very furious with his servant and sent him to prison. The poor guy cannot do anything as it was the king who sent him there.
But the tragedy did not stop the king from his favorite past time. And even without his buddy, he goes alone hunting. Unfortunately, another tragedy struck. In one of his lone hunting trips, he was captured by the cannibals in the wilderness. They brought the king in their village and he was readied for a feast.
But in the process of preparing the for a meal, they noticed that he has a missing finger. The cannibals, being superstitious, believe that a person who has missing finger is not fit for eating. They believe that if they eat a man with missing finger, bad luck and tragedy will come upon them. In the end, they let Lim Ah Hong, leave their village almost unscathed afraid of getting the bad luck that comes with the king.
With the unexpected and fortunate scape from sure death brought about by his injury, the king is very happy and thankful with his servant who he believes is the cause of the accident. Immediately, he set his friend free and summoned him to his court.
And he said to him, “I must thank you for had you not cause my injury, I would have been eaten by the cannibals. I am very sorry if I sent you to prison“. But to his astonishment, Lin Feng replied, “No, your majesty. I should be the one who must be thankful to you” The startled king then ask, “But why? I sent you to prison and given you undue harm” Lin Feng replied, “My king, had you not sent me to prison, I would be with you when the cannibals captured you. And I would have been the one eaten!”
Reflections
It’s one of my current favorite short stories. Some of you may find the story funny and amusing but beside that, it shows us that everything happens for a reason. Everything is part of the grand plan that God himself engineered. But whether we admit it or not, we take him for granted most of the time as the first thing we do is to gripe and whine every time we encounter trials.
For all we know, every problem that comes are way are just trials to test your wit and mettle. As in these challenges, we find Him and appreciate his blessings. All we need to is just hang on.
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