are you the carrot, egg, or coffee bean OT

April 24, 2001

There's a story that came across my computer about a father who, in answer to

his daughter's complaint about so much adversity in her life gave her the

following illustration:

He filled three pots in the kitchen with water and placed each on a high fire.

Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed

eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil,

without saying a word.

The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty

minutes he turned off the burners and removed the carrots, eggs and coffee to

separate bowls.

Turning to her he asked. " Darling, what do you see.? "

" Carrots, eggs, and coffee, " she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that

they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling

off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip

the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

She humbly asked. " What does it mean, Father? "

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but

each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to

the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid

interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became

hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling

water, they had changed the water.

" Which are you, " he asked his daughter? When adversity knocks on your door, how

do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? "

The CARROT that seems hard, but with pain and adversity wilts and becomes soft

and loses its strength?

The EGG, which starts off with a soft heart? And after going thru the floods of

hot water becomes hard and stiff. The shell looks the same, but inside it's

become tough and hardened.

Or the COFFEE BEAN? The bean changes the hot water, the very thing that is

bringing the pain, to its peak flavor reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the

water gets the hottest, it just tastes better! And brings delight to others.

****************

Interesting, huh?

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