Prayer and Faith

“Is there anything more important than prayer?” asked the disciple to his master.

The master asked the disciple to go to a nearby bush and cut off a branch. The disciple obeyed. “Is the bush still alive?” asked the master.

“Just as alive as before,” answered the disciple.

“Now go and cut the roots,” said the master.

“If I do that, the bush will die,” said the disciple.

“Prayers are the branches of a tree, whose roots are called faith,” said the master. “There can be faith without prayer. But there can be no prayer without faith.”

-From Maktub by Paulo Coelho

The Oak and the Reeds

A giant oak stood near a brook in which grew some slender reeds. When the wind blew, the great oak stood proudly upright with its hundred arms uplifted to the sky. But the reeds bowed low in the wind.

The oak said proudly, "The slightest breeze that ruffles the surface of the water makes you bow your heads, while I, the mighty oak, stand upright and firm before the howling tempest."

As the oak was speaking, a great hurricane rushed out of the north. The oak stood proudly and fought against the storm, while the yielding reeds bowed low. The wind redoubled in fury, and all at once the great tree fell, torn up by the roots, and lay among the pitying reeds. The bowing reeds were unbroken and were unharmed by the wind.

Moral: Better to surrender when it is folly to resist than to resist stubbornly and be destroyed.

-Aesop's Fable