There once was a man who spent his days in deep study. He longed to master the arts of architecture and design. Day after day he poured over blueprints and diagrams coming up with plans to renovate his home. His desire to build the perfect home for himself consumed him.
The man’s wife was a blessed soul. She loved the man and tended to their home with all her heart. One day she noticed a fault in the structure of the house and brought it to the attention of her husband. Irritated by her interruption the man brushed her off and buried his nose in his books. He assured her the house was solid and he would get to it as soon as he had finished.
The next day the wife, concern growing, brought it back to the attention of her husband. Who uniformly brushed it off as a women’s trifling. Disheartened but trusting her husband’s knowledge of architecture she let the issue rest.
This went on daily for 6 months until one day when the wife went in to her husband and addressed the matter. This time the man had had enough. His wife’s interruptions and push him to his limit. When his wife expressed her concern over the structural integrity of the house the man refused to respond. He gritted his teeth adjusted himself and remained silent in her presence.
The wife knew the gravity of the situation and took matters into her own hands. She went to the room to assess the situation but upon entering the room the ceiling collapsed crushing the wife underneath. Hearing the sound the man became irritated. Grumbling to himself he continued on with his work.
Days continued on with the man fast in his study. Relieved by his wife’s apparent change of heart he was finally lifted of the burden of listening to his wife. Her silence was appreciated. Wishing to thank her, he got up from his study and sought her out. He called to her but when no response came he was confused. Searching through the house he stumbled upon the lifeless body of his wife.
Distraught the man fell to his knees not saying a word.
4 comments:
Interesting story but when I finished I said out loud, "I want more." Sad story.
Lord help me to not be so caught up in the details that I don't recognize and love the people in my life.
The things we miss by being too busy...
1. I really liked this post. One of my favorites of yours. Did you make this story up or did you hear it somewhere?
2. It's interesting that people have commented saying this relates to busy-ness. Though I see how that applies, my first impression was that this was related to the revelation of sin through other people (and/or God)... which, I guess, can be in part busy-ness, but not exclusively. I see the structure of the house as being the foundation of this man's life. The woman (who cares about him) sees a problem with the foundation (which could be sin... or even the root of something the man believes in), and tries to make him aware of this. Instead of assessing the issue, the "stubborn" (or some might say prideful) husband automatically assumes she is wrong and gets annoyed, rather than checking it out and seeing whether or not she was right... By his repeated avoidance of her, the sin not only crushes his foundation, but also the woman he loves... Not until after his wife is dead does he realize the weight of the situation...
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