There once were two men who owned a piece of land on the beach. They decided
to build their houses so they could look out over the sea.
One man started to build his house high on the hill but that took longer because so much material
had to be shipped in and carried up the steep cliff. The other man was in a hurry so he built
his house right down near the water and of course he had his house built much faster.
One day he was down on the beach and enjoying the water as it lapped up on his feet. He looked up
at the man who was struggling with a large timber and he chided, "I don't know why you didn't put
your house down near mine, look at all the hard work you have ahead of you. By the time you are
finished it will be winter and you will have to wait for the weather to change before you can enjoy
the beach."
The man on the cliff called down to him "I am building my home safe on the solid ground, when
the storms come, and they will, I can at least take refuge in my home on the hill.This went on for
most of the summer the men bantering back and forth.
One day a little child playing in the sand asked the man on the beach "Why don't you help your
friend build the house, that is what Jesus would do”?
"First of all" said the man "He is not my friend, only a neighbor, besides how do you know
what Jesus would do?" The little girl answered him saying " I go to Sunday school and the Bible
tells us to help one another, like Jesus helped the blind man, he wasn't even a neighbor he was
a stranger.
Frustrated at the child's logic the man ushered her away. "This is a private beach and you are
intruding.” he said angrily.
The child left but it wasn't long and the man saw the little girl following after the man on the hill.
She was carrying what looked like a nail bag in her hands. "Well", he thought to himself,
"Good riddance, she can go pester him and see how far he can get with a nuisance of a child hanging
on." He posted a big sign saying PRIVATE BEACH NO TRESPASSING ALLOWED.
However the day would come and he would regret his actions. For it seems hurricane season
was about to start and he had been so engrossed with shooing people away the time just slipped by
and he was not prepared.
The man on the hill had been preparing his house even though it was not totally finished inside
the outside was sturdy. When the winds came he was safe and sound. The storm was violent and
tore at the beach and anything on it. Yes the man's house began to crumble and unfortunately
he was inside.
Finally the storm passed and folks began to survey their properties. No one saw the man
on the beach so they supposed he had gone in town to take cover. They did not dare to go inside
because the man had posted the land and that surely applied to going in after the storm.
However a few days went by and no one saw him, it was then a big dog came up the beach
and he began to prowl around what was left of the man's house. The little girl went after her dog
and found the man lying under a big beam, thankfully he was alive and they were able to get him
to the hospital. When the man awoke he was surprised to see the little girl sitting by his bedside.
It was then he did recall that somewhere in his teachings: he had heard that Jesus said let the
little children come unto me. Somewhere else he remembered that the saying was the little children
would lead them.
He was extremely grateful to the little girl that she had found him and he was sorry for his past
behavior where she was concerned. With this he decided to rebuild his house on solid ground.
The land where he had his house he turned over to the county so they could erect a playground
with a firm foundation.
It was not long before the two men became friends and they both felt that through a small
child the teaching of yesteryear became so important.
© Carol G Oliver
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