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One
day as she
went out to gather food, she came across a pond that was
almost dry. All
the fish there had been pressed together by the retreating
water. They were
clearly visible. Surprised
and overjoyed by her find, the old woman reached down to
pick up the catch. At
that moment she saw and heard a very strange thing: The
fish were praying!
With
their round mouths sticking up out of the shallow water,
they were chanting supplications under the guidance of their
leader, a big white fish: “God! Oh, God! Give us rain! Give
us drink!”
The old woman watched them, enthralled.
They prayed for a long time, unaware of the hours
passing since those who pray never tire.
Suddenly the clouds burst above the old woman’s head.
She had not seen the sky grow dark, but now rain
poured down. The deluge filled the pond, then formed a river
all the way to the lake in the valley.
Following their wise leader, the fish swam away. They had been rescued by the kindness of God,
of whom the poor woman had never before heard.
The
angry neighbor
Deep
in thought, the woman walked home.
“If the fish pray to the one whom they call God and
have their wish fulfilled, why should I not pray to the
same one?” she wondered. So she immediately began to recite: “God! Please give me money!
Oh, God, send me coins!”
She
repeated this hour after hour, day after day.
She became totally absorbed in her prayers, constantly
calling “God, God!” as she had heard the preacher fish doing.
Her
neighbor, on the other side of the wall, was disturbed by
the noise of the destitute woman’s ardent prayers.
One day he became so tired of it that he jumped up
and ran out to her, yelling: “Your shouting is making me
mad! Stop your cries! God will not come here to give you
money! Be quiet or go away!”
But
the old woman could not be stopped.
She went on and on repeating the holy name. She had nothing better to do.
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