Saturday, May 15, 2010

Great Power in Gentleness


Counseling a couple with my husband today reminded me of this old fable by Aesop that I had heard in school.  When dealing with evil, that's the time to be harsh and demand that it leave our lives.  But when dealing with others, especially with the ones we love, loving kindness wins, hands down!  Enjoy,

The North Wind and the Sun


The North Wind boasted of great strength. The Sun argued that there was great power in gentleness.

"We shall have a contest," said the Sun.

Far below, a man traveled a winding road. He was wearing a warm winter coat.

"As a test of strength," said the Sun, "Let us see which of us can take the coat off of that man."

"It will be quite simple for me to force him to remove his coat," bragged the Wind.

The Wind blew so hard, the birds clung to the trees. The world was filled with dust and leaves. But the harder the wind blew down the road, the tighter the shivering man clung to his coat. Then, the Sun came out from behind a cloud. Sun warmed the air and the frosty ground. The man on the road unbuttoned his coat.  The sun grew slowly brighter and brighter.  Soon the man felt so hot, he took off his coat and sat down in a shady spot.

"How did you do that?" said the Wind.

"It was easy," said the Sun, "I lit the day. Through gentleness I got my way."

35 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooh I love this...

We only win, our family and friends with kindness!
Thank you for sharing. :)

Divya said...

This is a very interesting story. When dealing with your family,
gentleness has the greatest strength.

Marcia Pires said...

Hi Evelyn, it reminded me of one of my favourite "advice-Bible verses" - Proverbs 3:3 that warns us to pursue kindness/gentleness and to tie them around our neck as a reminder so that we find favour with both God and people. Being gentle we end up having our way and finding favour from God and men alike. The promise is great, we just need to learn and practice it more and more. Thanks for this story that illustrates it so beautifully.

Marites,Manila,,Philippines said...

very nice story, with dealing with our family and friends!
thank for sharing ;-)



Marites,Manila,Philippines

Princess Etika - Philippines said...

Hi Mrs. Evelyn,

Thank you so much for sharing this story to us Ma'am!
I really love it! And it is so important also when it dealing with our family and friends.

Princess Erika - Philippines said...

Hi Mrs. Evelyn,

Thank you so much for sharing this story to us Ma'am!
I really love it! And it is so important also when it dealing with our family and friends.

Sulma Navid said...

I get it! You shouldn't force people to do things, but they will do them thanks to your kindness. It reminds me of how some people talk to plants, its weird but they believe it works to make them grow healthy and beautiful.
"You get more ants with sugar..."

Natalia said...

nice and interesting story, thanks for sharing.

erika gomez said...

Very nice Ms.Evelyn I have never heard of this before and how it relates to marriage. The more you try to fix something with your own strenght the less it will come together but when you relax and trust in God things will come together.

Bianca Moctezuma said...

This is really Interesting! & Helpful when dealing with family or friends!
If we try to force someone to do something it will never happen, but if we do it with gentleness has the greatest strength.
Thanks for the post Mrs. Evelyn.

Lily Torn said...

I understand this! The wind said it would be easy to make him take off his coat, and he tried so by blowing extreme winds, while on the other hand, the sun used his gentle and warmed him, consequently achieving what he set out to do. This comes in very handy in my life right now. Thank you!

Mayela Menezes said...

This is a really good story! i liked it! It reminds me of the ypg, and how we can't make people come, but be the sun, be gentle and they will come one their own! :D

Kenia Rivas said...

Hi Mrs. Evelyn,

I really enjoyed reading this fable.
It's true that we can't go through life forcing those around us to feel or act the same way we do or however we want them to, but we should guide them with gentleness and patience.
Thank you for this message.

Sincerely,
Kenia Rivas

Debora Anjos said...

it rhymes! :)very interesting. Aggressive against the devil, gentleness with people. Because the sun worked gently and slowly, the man gladly took off his coat! We can't rush people into living for God.

Leeanne said...

I get it! Very interesting, it is a reminder on how to deal with a certain situation currently going on in my life.

Thank you very much for the helpful post, and as our task is to work on it as we read a certain blog for the day, I will be practicing his post today at a very much needed time, patience is certainly a virtue we must receive!

Revolted_Manila said...

i have read that story way back elementary. and yes it's a really nice story. in relation to our family, i agree we have to be gentle with them we as follower of Christ must have the fruit of gentleness and be the light to our family.

thanks Mrs. Evelyn

^_^
Cindy from Manila

Maritza Barr said...

A very good example of how we must act. Its with a gentle hand that we help others. What use is it to be harsh? That strategy only works when we're dealing with other matters, not humans. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Ohhhhh, I remember this story. It was played as a cartoon in the UK. I never forgot it. In fact, I was thinking about it the other day and every time the sun shines and I start to remove layers. It has such a great moral.

xxx

Tania said...

This is so cute! I love it!

Sometimes we try to be harsh and saying too much of strong words to some people and they just dont get it that way. We must be kind and gentle and God will do His part :)

Rebecca Blackwood said...

This is a beautiful story, thanks for sharing! When we 'light the day' with loving kindness, it's so much more effective than trying to force things like the wind.

cecilia lopez said...

It is very strong this message.
Even the win was strong the sun won with kindness!!!

Ana Villatoro said...

I like this story, simple yet powerful. We can gain anything with gentleness, we do not need to be harsh to accomplish our goals.

Unknown said...

I loved the story. Many times we may try to force our way onto those we most love but the secret lies in loving kindness, that always shines through...

PHAMELA JOY--UCKG PHILIPPINES said...

hello mrs evelyn..
thank you so much for this story..
it really inspires me..
GODBLESS YOU..
__PHAMELA JOY--UCKG PHILIPPINES

Rebeca=) said...

Totally true! It's like the old saying you win more bees with honey than vinegar. If we want to gain the souls of people we should always apply this as well. Like the person that comes to church and is very religious and has many crucifixes. You can't just cold turkey tell them it's evil... they'll probably not come back. But we overlook that to set the foundation first.
Good stuff! Thank you for the post!

Liza said...

Hi Mrs. Evelyn!

Thanks for sharing this story to us. It is an inspiring for us and for our family. With Gentle, we will win!

Camila said...

Hi Mrs. Evelyn, loved the story, indeed with our loved ones we must show love and kindness.

Thanks for sharing the fable.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mrs. Evelyn, this is a beautiful story; and it is also true through kindness we can also win our families for the Kingdom of God. I saw it happening. Thanks for sharing!

Sandra Ulume said...

Wow! what a story, this has certainly taught me a lesson.

Sarah Dok said...

When we are too harsh and pushy to get what we want it is hard to succeed, but gentleness and love always win. Powerful story, thanks for sharing Mrs Evelyn.

Andreia Petrucci said...

Olá Dª Evelyn. Gostei muito desta história que evidencia uma grande realidade, até descrita na Bíblia: Não é por força e nem por violência, mas pelo Espírito de Deus.
A gentileza faz milagres, que nem a própria força consegue superar.
Espero que não se importe, mas compartilhei a história, em inglês, no meu facebook.
Bjs grande, com carinho.

Andreia - Portugal

Andreia Petrucci said...

Olá Dª Evelyn. Gostei muito desta história que evidencia uma grande realidade, até descrita na Bíblia: Não é por força e nem por violência, mas pelo Espírito de Deus.
A gentileza faz milagres, que nem a própria força consegue superar.
Espero que não se importe, mas compartilhei a história, em inglês, no meu facebook.
Bjs grande, com carinho.

Andreia - Portugal

missleon said...

I like this fable! Simple but effective! Sometimes when we really want to get our point across we can be harsh, without even realising it - especially with people we care about! Sometimes we are just so anxious to get them to understand! However, it is surprising to realise just how effective a gentle approach can be. As the bible says "...a gentle answer turns away wrath"

kristal Tellez said...

i like this story, the way we have to be gentle and nice and kindness to our family.
kristal

Unknown said...

I like this story..