69- The Path in the Snow

 In Ottawa, Canada, children get very excited when the snowfall season arrives. They play in the parks and build snow sculptures that stay intact until the warm weather returns.

 The park was all white in the beginning of the winter snow season. Three friends went to the park to play. They devised a game in which each person would engrave a line in the snow by walking to the fence. They would then judge whose line was the straightest and most direct.

 They spread out and started walking, making imprints in the snow. The first one went completely off track and missed the fence. The second one thought that his line was straight. However, when he looked back, he discovered that he had gone to the left and to the right along the way.

 The third one was right on target and maintained the straight line they were all after. They wondered why the first deviated and the second ended up with a crooked line while the third was successful. The third friend answered, “While you were concentrating on your feet, I was focusing on the tree that was in front of me beside the fence. I didn't look in any other direction; that's why the line was straight.”

 One's life is a marathon among people. Whoever takes the royal path will reach heaven without deviating in this world's ‘snow.

Many young people aspire to attain straight behavior. However, they fall short of it, blaming everything on human weakness and emotions. In fact, the reason for distorted or zigzag behavior is the lack of concentration on the tree of life, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Although it is a virtue to confess our weakness and avoid the world's delusions, we need to concentrate on Christ. This positive aspect supports us in our spiritual growth and replaces all negative behavior.

 If we hope to become honest in our dealings, we cannot desire the earthly things, which are a diversion from the royal path in which Jesus carries us all. As St. Paul said,

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,

The author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12.1-2).

→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: طريق وسط الثلوج.

A Beautiful Flower Amid The Grass

Short Stories (Stories for the Youth) Books by Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Rest Peacefully