Future Crosses The Present

A man who lived a long time ago believed that he could read the future in the stars. He called himself an Astrologer and spent his time at night gazing at the sky. He was always busy worrying about the future and villagers often came to him, hoping to know what their future holds.

One evening he was walking along the open road outside the village. His eyes were fixed on the stars. He thought he saw there that the end of the world was near. He lost in his thoughts about the future. As he was looking at the stars, he kept walking without looking down. Suddenly, he fell into a ditch full of mud and water.

He was sinking in the muddy water, and madly trying to claw at the slippery sides of the hole in his effort to climb out. He was unable to crawl out and fearing for his life, he started screaming for help. His cries for help soon brought the villagers running.

As they pulled him out of the mud, one of them said, “You pretend to read the future in the stars, and yet you fail to see what is at your feet! This may teach you to pay more attention to what is right in front of you, and let the future take care of itself.”

“What use is it,” said another, “to read the stars, when you can’t see what’s right here on the earth?”