Little Zeca comes home after class, stamping his feet hard on the floor. His father, who was heading to the backyard to do some work in the garden, sees this and calls the boy over for a conversation.
Zeca, eight years old, accompanies him suspiciously. Before his father could say anything, he speaks irritably:
- Dad, I'm very angry. Juca shouldn't have done that to me.
I wish all bad things for him.
His father, a simple man but full of wisdom, listens calmly to his son who continues complaining:
- Juca humiliated me in front of my friends. I don't accept it. I wish he would get sick and not be able to go to school.
The father listens silently while walking to a shelter where he kept a bag full of coal. He took the bag to the back of the yard and the boy followed him quietly. Zeca sees the bag being opened and before he could even ask a question, his father proposes something to him:
- Son, pretend that little white shirt drying on the clothesline is your little friend Juca and each piece of coal is one of your bad thoughts directed at him. I want you to throw all the coal from the bag at the shirt, down to the last piece. Then I'll come back to see how it looks.
The boy thought it would be fun and got to work. The clothesline with the shirt was far from the boy and only a few pieces hit the target.
An hour passed and the boy finished the task. The father, who had been watching from afar, approaches the boy and asks him:
- Son, how are you feeling now?
- I'm tired, but I'm happy because I hit many pieces of coal on the shirt.
The father looks at the boy, who doesn't understand the reason for this game, and speaks to him affectionately:
- Come with me to my room, I want to show you something.
The son accompanies his father to the room and is placed in front of a large mirror where he can see his whole body. What a shock! Zeca could only see his teeth and his little eyes. The father, then speaks to him tenderly:
- Son, you saw that the shirt is barely dirty; but, look only at yourself.
The evil we wish upon others is like what happened to you. No matter how much we may disrupt someone's life with our thoughts, the grime, the residue, the soot always remain with us.
Be careful with your thoughts, they turn into words;
Be careful with your words, they turn into actions;
Be careful with your actions, they turn into habits;
Be careful with your habits, they shape your character;
Be careful with your character, it controls your destiny.
Text sent by Alessandro Macari .
alessandro_macari@hotmail.com