This is one of my favorite reminders!

Sand & Stone

There is an old story that tells us of two friends who were walking through the desert. During their journey, exhausted and thirsty, they had an argument. One friend slapped the other in the face. The friend who was slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

The friends kept walking, now in silence, until they miraculously came upon an oasis. Weary from their journey, they decided to rest by taking a bath in the cool waters of the oasis. As they entered the pool, the friend who had been slapped became stuck in the mire. In his state of exhaustion he began to drown. Just as he felt himself being pulled under, the strong arm of his friend pulled him free. As he lay on the bank of the pool recovering, he wrote another message. This one on a nearby stone: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on stone. Why do you do these things?” The other friend replied, “When someone we care for hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of time and forgiveness can erase it away. In turn, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.