Why God Allows Pain

This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen...


A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.
As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said:
"I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist.
Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?
Would there be abandoned children?

If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain.
I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
"You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber.
"I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because
if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist!
That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help.
That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

What Is Ego Really?

Most people think of the word Ego and think that it means your "arrogant" or you think that you are "better than others". Is that truly the definition of Ego? Is that the only example of Ego?

Absolutely not. Ego is an invisible shield planted around yourself to protect yourself from the outside world. Ego shows up in all sorts of ways.

Ego is being "shy" and not wanting to talk to people. Ego is fear of what others might think of you. Ego is self critical and refuses to accept compliments. Ego is a lack of trust for people because your trust has been violated. Ego is living inside of a comfort zone, because you are afraid of failing. Ego is thinking that everything you do is perfect or striving for perfection. Ego is taking the credit when it doesn't belong to you or not liking it when someone else gets credit. Ego is giving up on the persistence God implanted in you. Ego is being closed minded.

Ego is not allowing yourself to learn and grow for fear of the responsibility that comes with that. Ego is not forgiving because you feel justified in your anger. Ego chooses to take offense to what others say or do. Ego is self righteous and critical. Ego is false humility. Ego is oppression and not wanting to move past the past. Ego is having to be in control of everything. Ego is thinking nobody can do it better than you. Ego is an inability to admit you need help. The Ego needs to "keep up with the Jones". Ego needs to appear like everything is perfect when it isn't. Ego is a victim. Ego is pride.

This is only a few examples of Ego. We all comfortably wear our Ego. We just need to make the choice daily to take the invisible shield off and be the true person God intended for us to be. He is in control, he knows our path, he is ready to take on ALL road bumps in our path. If we hand over complete control to God and not try to live it alone, our Ego will safely be left outside the doorway of our life.

In short, Ego is Edging God Out.

This story has always made me immensely happy.

The emperor of China was a very great painter; he loved painting, and he used to call other painters
to the palace every year to have an exhibition. When he had become very old, he declared, at one
annual function, ”Now I am very old and I want to see the most perfect painting in the world. I will
provide space in the palace to the painter, and whatever he needs...”

So a few painters who thought they could create such a painting stayed in the palace. Somebody
completed his painting in one month and brought it to the emperor. He had done well, but it was not
the most perfect.

By and by three years passed, and only one painter remained. For three years he had been painting
– and he was not painting on canvas; he was painting on the wall of the palace where his room was
allotted to him.

He had painted a beautiful forest... and a moonlit night, a small river, and a very small footpath going
round and round around the trees and then disappearing in the forest.

After three years he came to the emperor and said, ”Now you can come. Whatever I can do I have
done. I think it is the most perfect painting in the world. So I invite Your Honor to come, and I don’t
ask any reward – these three years were the most precious that I have lived. Just your seeing it is
enough.”

All the other painters had been painting for reward, and when you are painting out of some
motivation, for some reward, your painting cannot be perfect. Your motivation will be the dust.
This painter said, ”I am not at all interested in any reward; you have already given it to me. These
three years I have lived such a beautiful life, day and night; nothing could be more than you have
given me. Now just look at the painting so that I can go back home. My children, my wife, may be
waiting for me.”

The emperor went with him. Certainly this painter had done the greatest job. He became so
interested that he asked the painter, ”Where does this small path go, finally?”

The painter said, ”I have never gone on it but if you are willing to come with me, we can go and see
where it leads. This question has arisen in me also many times, ‘Where does this small path lead?’”
So the painter and the emperor both entered the path and disappeared behind the trees, and nothing
has been heard about them since.

This story has always made me immensely happy. There is no returning from perfection, there is no
going back. Perfection takes you and you disappear.

This is a beautiful story....

A king told his court that he wants the whole of wisdom condensed into
one sentence, and the sentence has to be as small as possible so that he can engrave it inside his
diamond ring. And he will look at it only in a situation when there is no way out.

It was a difficult task. But one of his ministers said – ”I will prepare it. Give me the ring. But don’t
look at it until every other possibility is finished and you are facing death – in the ultimate emergency,
because only then will you understand it.” The king was curious, but he had to give his word that he
would not look at it.

Soon the day came when the country was invaded, the king was defeated; he escaped into the
mountains to hide. He reached a point where there was the end of the mountain, and an abysmal
depth facing him. There was no way to go further, and back he could not go. He could hear the
enemy, the horses, approaching.

He waited for a few minutes. When he heard the steps of the horses so close that it was only
a question of a few seconds till he would be caught, he took off the diamond ring, looked – and
laughed in that silent place. The whole valley was full of his laughter, because what was written was
a very simple sentence. In his ring it was engraved: ”This too will pass.”

The whole wisdom he had asked for – and this is the essence of the whole of wisdom: This too will
pass.

And as it happened, the horses must have turned some other way, and he heard their steps going
farther and farther away.

He gathered his army again, won back his country, and there was great celebration all over the
capital because they had become again independent. He was garlanded, his chariot was full of
flowers, and people were throwing flowers in joy, and dancing and singing. At that moment he again
took off his diamond ring and read the sentence: This too will pass. And this moment became his
enlightenment.

Sadness comes, joy comes, and everything passes by.

YOUR ATTEMPT MAY FAIL, ಬಟ್...

It's called Mindset!!

As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? So make an attempt to grow further.... Why shouldn't we try it again?

"YOUR ATTEMPT MAY FAIL, BUT NEVER FAIL TO MAKE AN ATTEMPT."

George Carlin's Views on Aging:

IF YOU DON'T READ THIS TO THE VERY END, YOU HAVE LOST A DAY IN YOUR LIFE...

George Carlin's Views on Aging:

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when
we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that
you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half.
You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next
number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be
16! And then the greatest day of your life .... you become 21. Even the words
sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad
milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a
sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes,
it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are
gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day
thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN
4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start
going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid
again. "I'm 100 and a half!" May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the
doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them "

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the
devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with
us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes,
music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve
it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to
a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that
take our breath away.

Lead a Happiest Life...

God Bless All...

Be thankful for what you have.

Have a Blessed Day

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.

He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help."

There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.

He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.

The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."
What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind.

The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.

Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets.

When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.

Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence.

Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.


Great men say, "Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness! In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience."

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling!
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!