PureInsight | August 15, 2007
[PureInsight.org] There is an old story about an elder of Judaism who loved to play golf.
One Sabbath day, he had an itch to play golf.
But the Jewish creed requires its followers to rest on the Sabbath and they must not do anything.
But this elder could not resist his strong desire and decided to go to
the golf course secretly. He thought that he would only play a few
holes. That was all.
Since it was the Sabbath and no Jews would go outside, there was no one
at the golf course. So the elder felt that no one would know that he
violated the rule.
However, when the elder played to the second hole, an angel saw him.
The angel was very angry and went to report to God. She said that there
was an elder who was not obeying the Jewish law and dared to play golf
on the Sabbath.
God heard the angel's report and said to the angel: "I will indeed punish this elder seriously."
Starting from the third hole, the elder played better than perfect. He
got all the holes in one stroke. The elder was so excited. When he
reached the seventh hole, the angel went to the God and asked: "My dear
God, aren't you going to punish the elder? Why can I still not
see any punishment?" God said: "I have already punished him."
Right up to the end of the ninth hole, the elder got holes in one for each hole.
Because he played extremely well, much better than his skill allowed, the elder decide to play a second round of nine holes.
The angel went to find God again: "Where is the punishment?"
God smiled and said nothing.
At the end of 18 holes, his record was better than any of the world-class golf players. The elder was so happy.
The angel became very angry and asked God: "Is this the punishment that you gave to the elder?"
This time God said: "Yes, this is indeed a punishment. Think about it.
He has had such an extraordinary round and is so excited. Yet he cannot
tell anyone about it. Isn't that the best punishment for him?"
Why did God not let him fail and play very badly? The punishment in
one's heart is worse than the physical! So think about it. Why do you
feel worried or bothered? Maybe that is a kind of punishment from God.
Translated from:
http://xinsheng.net/xs/articles/gb/2002/12/21/18783.htm
