Take no thought

I learned about a man recently fighting a particular temptation, so he left behind all his daily worldly entertainment and went for a walk. 

Shortly into his walk, he encountered another man walking and decided to interject himself and begin a discussion. They walked and talked for a long time, so long that the first man forgot about the temptation altogether. He was happy to have met him.

After they parted ways, the man realized how much time passed, so he began walking back home. 

On the way, he noticed a plastic grocery bag caught on a bush across the street and thought, “The earth can’t be renewed if we keep polluting her.” So he decided to cross the street and throw it away. 

As he approached, he also noticed some old trash by the bush. He thought, “Maybe I’ll pick up this little bit of trash, put it in this grocery bag, and throw it all away together.” But as he looked around, he saw even more trash. And more. And more. 

He concluded he couldn’t get it all with what he had but would fill up his grocery bag and be content. So he did. 

After he was done, he began his walk back home again. But this time, he noticed an unopened water bottle in a parking lot that looked to have been there for a while. Knowing he was in a relatively dry part of the world, he decided to use that water to water a tree on the way back home if he could find one. 

To his satisfaction, he found a few trees, but one appeared to be dried up. He thought, “Maybe this water and my faith can help that tree grow like the others.” So he emptied the water bottle at the base of the tree and then finally finished his way home. 

As the day concluded, the man pondered how grateful he was for the walk he chose to take because the temptation had been replaced with internal peace. He was also thankful to have made a new friend, beautify the earth, and water a dry tree (which to him was a symbol of hope) in the process. He was inspired to do this more often until the end.

All this was provided to him, as he remembered he took nothing with him. 

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” - Lao Tzu 

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