The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Two angels are walking all day and most of the night in beggar's clothes. They come upon a magnificent house. The house was in a very rich area. They saw the couple of the house just sitting down to a huge 3 course meal. They go up and knock on the door and are greeted by a servant. The servant brings them in to talk to couple of the house and the angles in beggar's clothes ask for room and food for the night so that they can finish out their journey in the morning. The couple allow them to stay in their damp basement on a pile of hay and a blanket that is very thin. They provide them with left over bread crust and water. During the night the older angel begins to repair a crack he sees in their wall. The younger angel asks "Why would you fix their wall when they are already so blessed, but unwilling to help those less fortunate?" The older anger says "not all things are what they seem." The angels lay down and sleep and awake in the morning to the servants asking them to leave before the breakfast bell had rang. The angels continue on their journey and walk all day and most of the night, still in their beggar's clothes. They come across a very small cottage with a skinny cow in front that they later learn is the poor farmer's only means to make money to survive. They see through the window the couple sitting down to a very small meal. They knock on the door and are invited in to have a meal and stay the night. The couple provide the angels with as much food as they had to offer. When it came time to sleep the couple had the angels lay in their more comfortable bed while they slept in the barn. In the morning the angels awake to hear the woman sobbing with her husband holding her while standing over their beloved cow that had died during the night. The young angel turns to the older angel and says "how can you allow this injustice? This was their only means of making money to survive!" The older angel once again states "not all things are what they seem." The younger angel is becoming furious at this time and confronts the older angel again and says "you fixed the wall for the rich couple that would barely look at us and now you allow a tragedy to fall this couple that has given us all that they have to offer!" The older angel says "things aren't always what they seem young one. When I was fixing the wall at the richer house it was because the crack started to show that gold had been placed there. So I sealed it up in order to prevent them from gaining riches in which they would never share. During the night I saw the angel of death come and he was meaning to take the husband, but I convienced him to take the cow instead." It shows that when bad things happen to us they may not be as bad as they seem and when we become upset when good things happen to those that may be less deserving, they may not really be as good as they seem.
Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.- Maya Angelo