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Cure for Sorrow
There is an old Chinese tale
about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to
the holy man and said, "What prayers, what magical incantations
do you have to bring my son back to life?"
Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to
her, "Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known
sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life."
The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard
seed.
She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and
said, "I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is
this such a place? It is very important to me."
They told her, "You've certainly come to the wrong place," and
began to describe all the tragic things that recently had
befallen them.
The woman said to herself, "Who is better able to help these
poor, unfortunate people that I, who have had misfortune of my
my own?" She stayed to comfort them, then went on in search of
a home that had never known
sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hovels and in other places,
she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune. She
became so involved in ministering to other people's grief that
ultimately she forgot about her quest for the magical mustard
seed, never realizing that it had, in fact, driven the sorrow
out of her life.
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