ey could see
now was a shriveled yellow body hanging from the edge of a spider
web and a magnificent butterfly flexing its wings in the sun.

* This story reminds us that we cannot predict the future, either
for others or for ourselves.

*This story teaches us to trust in God rather than in the opinion
of men.

The Wise One

High in the mountains of a distant land there once lived a man so
incredibly old that his life no longer had any plot. He was so old
that his very name had faded from the memories of all those around
him, and he was known only as "The Wise One." He spent his later
days hearing and commenting on people's problems and sitting among a
dozen or two disciples who waited patiently to hear all that was
asked of him and all that he spoke. Sometimes an entire day would
pass when not a syllable opened his lips; whether this was from a
temporary lack of strength or simply because he had nothing to say,
no one knew.

While his reputation among his disciples and a few others was that
he possessed amazing wisdom and insight, many people thought him to
be an idle and incoherent fool because, they said, he never provided
a practical solution to the problem he was asked about. Instead he
would ask a simplistic question or tell a story whose point was so
obscure that many left his presence shaking their heads.

Some said that in his youth he had earned and spent large quantities
of money, only to turn from what he saw as a life of vanity to the
pursuit of wisdom. Others said that had that been true, he was
proved all the more fool for giving up the good life for a life of
hardship that was of little use to anyone. Thus, for every person
who called him The Wise One with reverence, twenty pronounced his
name with irony.

Of the stories still not erased by the hand of time, consider these
and judge the man as you will:

* * *

One day a man, clearly troubled by the cares of life, came to The
Wise One and spoke thusly:

"My son, to whom I had entrusted my farm, last week stole my best
cows, sold them in the market, and spent the money in wild and
shameful living. Now he says he is sorry and will repay me. What
should I do?"

"Tell me," replied the old man, "when you drop your bar of soap
while bathing, what do you do?"

"I pick it up, of course," the man answered, with some irritation.

"And now tell me, which is of more value, a bar of soap or a
human soul?"

While the questione