Thanksgiving Gratitude

Once upon a time, there lived a stonecutter who went every day to the mountain to cut stones. And while he worked he whistled and sang, for though he was poor, he had everything he wanted. He was a happy man.

Then one day he was called to work at the mansion of a very rich man. When he saw the man’s beautiful house, the stonecutter felt a pang of desire for the first time in his life. He said, “If only I were rich, I would not have to earn my living with hard work and sweat.”

Suddenly a voice from heaven boomed, “Your wish is granted. From now on, anything you want will be given to you.”

When the stonecutter returned home that evening, to his amazement, he found a mansion in place of his small hut!

The stonecutter gave up cutting stones and began to live the life of the rich. One day he was sitting in front of his mansion when he saw a king and all of his noblemen passing by. He said to himself; “I wish I were a king, sitting in the cool comfort of a royal carriage.”

No sooner had he made his wish than he found himself riding in a cool, comfortable carriage, dressed in royal garb and surrounded by servants.

As the journey continued, the day got warmer and the interior of the carriage became unbearably hot. The stonecutter/king looked out the carriage window and marveled at the power of the sun. He said to himself, “I wish I were the sun.”

Once again his wish was granted and he became the sun, sending out waves of heat to the entire universe.

All went well for a while. Then one rainy day, the stonecutter/king/sun tried to make his heat penetrate a thick bank of clouds. But he couldn’t do it. The clouds were too dense. The people below the clouds could not feel his heat.

“I wish I were a cloud,” he said. And that’s what he became. As a cloud, he enjoyed his power to prevent the sun’s heat from reaching the ground.

Soon, though, the stonecutter/king/sun/cloud felt himself being pushed by a great force. He realized that the force was the wind and that he was no match for it. “I wish I were the wind,” he said. And that’s what he became. As the mighty wind, he blew clouds and rain all over the kingdom. Sometimes he even blew down trees and buildings with the strength of a hurricane.

But it wasn’t long, though, before the stonecutter/king/sun/cloud/wind found something that he could not move by blowing. It was a huge, towering stone, glorious in its sheer size, weight, and strength. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t move that stone.

“I wish I were that stone,” he said. In an instant, he became the stone, stronger than anything on earth.

But while he stood there in all of his stony glory, he heard the sound of a hammer and chisel pounding into solid rock. He looked down and saw a stonecutter cutting chunks of rock from his feet.

And the stonecutter/king/sun/cloud/wind/stone said, “How can a tiny creature like that be more powerful than a mighty rock like me? I want to be a man!”

The stonecutter was instantly transformed into a man again.

And today he can still be found going up to the mountain to cut stone, singing and whistling all the way.

Where to Take It from Here…

Though this Jewish parable is centuries old, it carries a timeless message.

Have you ever wished you were somebody else? Have you ever wanted what someone else had?

God wants us to be content with who we are and what we have right now. When you can’t be content with your present, you probably won’t be content with your future. You’ll always want more.

Paul wrote, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12). The secret to contentment is being aware of the fact that God knows your needs and will always take care of you. He is a giver of good and perfect gifts (James 1:17).

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). He is all you need.