Everybody Has Faults

Two young men, approached a Samaritan. The first person confessed that he was not able to carry on life peacefully because he was filled with a sense of guilt and remorse for having been unkind to his parents when he was younger. The other person said that he could not be accused of any major fault through his life. All the same, he was not entirely angelic, for, he had lied, hurt others with his brashness and had been impolite occasionally. He added that he had merely accompanied his friend for moral support while speaking to the savant. Having come there, both the men wanted to be absolved from their past deeds, so that they could start life afresh.

 The elderly man handed over a sack to each of them. He told the first man to find the largest boulder that could fit snugly inside the bag, pack it and bring it along. He told the other man to find little stones and pebbles and fill his rucksack to capacity. The two of them met the ascetic the following day with their assignment. The aged master told the two people to return the stones from wherever they found it and then get back to him. While the first man stepped out immediately and unquestioningly, the second man argued with the master, “I have collected these little stones from all over the place. How on earth can I return them to their respective spots?”

 The master smiled sagely and said that the stones represented their negative activities. The former had realized his fault, consolidated his feelings and was willing to do penance to redeem himself from the sin. Since he had identified his fault it would be easy for him to retrace his steps and make amends. The latter would fail because; he had no track record of his actions and also thought that he had not done any wrong. Hence it was a tougher for him to set right his past.

 Many of us fall into the category of the second person. We lose sight of our faults because we evaluate them as trivial as compared to horrific crimes. Yet if each one of us made reparations for our misdeeds, big or small, we can strengthen our core values and make a difference to the world around us and avoid our downfall.