293- Thanks ... Thanks

During my visit to Melbourne, Australia, in August 1996, a colorful fish in a glass pot drew my attention. The fish never stopped moving. From time to time, it went up to the water surface.

 When I saw this I remembered the story of the word ‘Thanks’ that lived sadly in the little boy Mark’s mouth. It always desired to move in his mouth to his lips and be said. Then, it can breathe and get alive and strengthen but Mark used not to be thankful to anyone. In harshness he put the word thanks on the shelf in his mouth and never let it move on his lips. Because the word stayed with no use, it got weaker and weaker until it was about to die.

Mark had an elder brother called Sam. He was very gentle and thankful to everybody. The word ‘Thanks’ was on his lips all the time; it breathed air so it grew bigger day by day.

One day the two brothers sat on the table for breakfast. The word ‘Thanks’ in Sam’s mouth noticed how weak her sister in Mark’s mouth was so it offered her invitation to come to visit and get the chance to breathe the air. In a twinkle, the word ‘Thanks’ jumped from Mark’s mouth to the table and then to Sam’s mouth. The two words jumped happily in Sam’s mouth.

Whenever Mom offered food or drink, Mark would take and eat madly. But Sam would say, “Thanks...Thanks” to his mom.

Everybody noticed that Sam said ‘Thanks’ twice while Mark never said it. The word ‘Thanks’ that was in Mark’s mouth asked her sister to stay longer with her and her sister welcomed her kindly.

Mark started to notice how rude he was with his family and friends. He also noticed that his brother Sam always repeated the word ‘Thanks’ twice gently. Mark tried to imitate his brother and thank people but he could not because the word left his mouth and his behavior was very rough.

Mark sat in his room checking back on his behavior and realized that when he lost the word ‘Thanks’, actually he lost too much. He looked to God and cried, “God, give me a thankful life instead of ingratitude,

So that the word ‘Thanks’ would come back to my mouth and my heart.

I thank You for every condition,

And thank those who are around me.

God give me through Your Holy Spirit, love with gentleness.

And with the broad heart, soft words,

That I would become a living witness to the Bible, O Perfect Love.”

The words ‘Thanks’ in Sam’s mouth rejoiced. The ‘Thanks’ which was before in Mark’s mouth asked her sister to go back to her original place, not to be paralyzed on a shelf but to be all the time on Mark’s mouth, doing her sweet job.

→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: شكرًا... شكرًا!

In World War II

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

I Came to you Thrice