The Twelfth Step

Every now and then I come across a great parable that truly touches my life. The following is one of them, of which I found long ago when I was hoping to inspire my mother who was going through a rough period in her life. Ironically, this parable resurfaced recently when my sister visited and pulled out one of my bibles from my bookshelf that I hadn’t opened for a very long time. It was my mother’s bible and within it was the email I sent of this parable to her almost two decades ago now. The parable is titled “Things Aren’t Always What They Seem” and I feel it definitely applies to the many hardships I’ve been facing myself over the past bunch of years. My only prayer is that each of you will enjoy its message as much as I have and still do.

Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angles stay in their mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a space in their cold basement. As they made their bed on a very hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angle asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but quite hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed so that they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angles found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole source of income, now lay dead in the field. The younger angel was confused and asked the older angel, “How could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” she accused. “The second family had little, but was willing to share everything, and yet you let their only cow die.” “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so that he would never find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel said humbly.

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way we think they should. But if we have faith, we just need to trust that every outcome in our life is always to our advantage. And while we may not know that at the time it happens, one day it will make sense. Until then, just keep your faith and remember that “Things aren’t always what they seem…”

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson