© Patty Fitts. All Rights Reserved. One of Aesop's fables tells of a dispute between the wind and the sun as to which had the greater strength. In order to settle it, they agreed that whichever could force the traveler coming down the road to take off his coat would be proved the stronger of the two. The wind was the first to try. He puffed, and he roared, and he wailed; but the harder he blew, the colder the traveler became and the more closely he wrapped his coat around him. Then came the sun. Quietly and gently he shone down on the road until, in the comforting warmth of his rays, the traveler threw aside his coat. And the gentleness of the sun was proved the stronger than the bluster of the wind.
We live in a noisy, competitive, violent world. Headlines shout at us as if blaring through bullhorns. We are encouraged to be assertive, to fight our way to the top, to "look out for number one." Somehow we allow ourselves to believe that roughness and rudeness are signs of strength.
We underrate gentleness, thinking that because it does not advertise itself it cannot be important. But the force of gentleness is tremendous. Consider that softly dripping water, quietly and patiently over the years, can wear down a rock. A young tender plant can seem to force its way through impenetrable concrete or frozen ground.
Love is expressed through a gentle whisper, not a jolting shout. Healing comes from the gentleness of a listening ear, the patient presence of a friend. We seem to believe that if we talk in a loud voice, our words will carry more conviction. But it is not the power of our voices, but the wisdom of our words that matters.
Author: Anne B. Townsend. Reprinted from Grace Drops, Volume 3 (2005).
We live in a noisy, competitive, violent world. Headlines shout at us as if blaring through bullhorns. We are encouraged to be assertive, to fight our way to the top, to "look out for number one." Somehow we allow ourselves to believe that roughness and rudeness are signs of strength.
We underrate gentleness, thinking that because it does not advertise itself it cannot be important. But the force of gentleness is tremendous. Consider that softly dripping water, quietly and patiently over the years, can wear down a rock. A young tender plant can seem to force its way through impenetrable concrete or frozen ground.
Love is expressed through a gentle whisper, not a jolting shout. Healing comes from the gentleness of a listening ear, the patient presence of a friend. We seem to believe that if we talk in a loud voice, our words will carry more conviction. But it is not the power of our voices, but the wisdom of our words that matters.
Author: Anne B. Townsend. Reprinted from Grace Drops, Volume 3 (2005).
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