The Old Man

Spiritual Story by Jonathan Robinson

Once long ago, there lived an old man.
He had no money. He had no plan.
All that he had was a horse oh so grand
and he and his horse lived off the land.

The King offered riches for this horse oh so fine,
�I�ll give you money if you�ll make your horse mine.�
But the old man said, �My horse will not be sold,
he lives with me. He lives free and bold.�

Then one day the horse was plain gone.
�The horse had been stolen,� the townsfolk cried on.
The old man said, �Friends, don�t look so sad,
Though the horse be gone that may not be so sad.�

�You foolish old man, look what you�ve done.
You had a fine horse and now you have none.
A curse it is and a curse it will be,
you shouldn�t have let your horse wander free!�

The horse soon returned with others by its side.
There were twelve now of beauty and pride.
The townsfolk said, �Old man, you were right.
You are blessed to have horses of unearthly delight!�

�I have 12 horses, yes that is true
but that does not mean I am blessed with them too.
It is too soon to judge, who knows what will be?
Try not to make stories from the little you see.�

As it came to pass, the old man�s only son
tried riding a horse, just for fun.
Yet he broke both his legs while playing this game
and the townsfolk cried, �Oh what a shame!�

The old man said, �Friends don�t speak so soon.
You hear just one note yet you sing an entire tune.
Who�s to say what the future may hold?
My son�s legs are broken but the future lies untold.�

Soon there was war, and the young men of town
were all sent to fight and were shot down.
But the old man�s son was saved from this plight.
He had broken his legs, he was forced not to fight.

And the townfolk cried out, �Again you were right!�
But the old man replied, �Have you no sight?
Only God knows what is and will be.
To live and let live is to live and live free.�