Life Lessons Aren't Always What They Seem

Enjoy this lovely story about life lessons!

Two angels stopped at the home of a wealthy man.  The man, not seeing their divine nature, was rude and did not offer them the comfort of the mansion’s guest room.  Instead, they were given a space in the cold basement.  As they made their bed on the hard floor, the elder angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.  When the younger angel asked why he would do this for their ungracious host, the older angel smiled, and replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

In the morning, without so much as a drink of water or a crust of bed, the angels thanked their host, and continued their journey.  In the evening, they knocked at the door of a humble cottage where lived a poor couple, a farmer and his wife.  Inviting the angels in, the couple shared their simple meal.  The angels could not help but notice that the couple ate less, that their guests might have more.  After dinner, the man and his wife insisted the angels take their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel, infuriated, demanded of his elder, “How could you allow this to happen?  The rich man had everything, and offered nothing, yet you repaired his wall.  This poor couple has so little, yet they opened their home to us, sharing everything, and you let their cow die.”

Again, the elder angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.  When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall.  Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he would not find it.  Last night as we slept in the farmer’s  bed, the angel of death came for his wife.  I gave her the cow instead.  Things aren’t always what they seem.”