In Luke, Chapter 7, verse 38, Jesus promises us, “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” There’s a wonderful old children’s story that beautifully illustrates this point. It’s called The Legend of the Dipper.
There had been no rain in the land for a very long time. It was so hot and dry that the flowers were withered, the grass was parched and brown, and even the big, strong trees were dying. The water dried up in the creeks and rivers, the wells were dry, the fountains stopped bubbling. The cows, the dogs, the horses, the birds, and all of the people were so thirsty! Everyone felt uncomfortable and sick.
There was one little girl whose mother grew very ill. “Oh,” said the little girl, “if I can only find some water for my mother I’m sure she will be well again. I must find some water.”
So she took a small tin dipper and started out in search of water. By and by she found a tiny little spring away up on a mountainside. It was almost dry. The water dropped, dropped, ever so slowly from a tiny crevasse between two large rocks. The little girl held her dipper carefully and caught the drops. She waited and waited a long, long time until the dipper was full of water. Then she started down the mountain holding the cup very carefully, for she didn’t want to spill a single drop.
On her way down the mountain path she passed a poor little dog. He could hardly drag himself along. He was panting for breath and his tongue hung from his mouth because it was so dry and parched.
“Oh, you poor little dog,” said the little girl, “you are so thirsty. I can’t pass you without giving you a few drops of water. If I give you just a little there will still be enough for my mother.”
So the little girl poured some water into her hand and held it down for the little dog. He lapped it up quickly and then he felt so much better that he frisked and barked and seemed almost to say, “Thank you, little girl.” And the little girl didn’t notice – but her tin dipper had changed into a silver dipper and was just as full of water as before.
She thought about her mother and hurried along as fast as she could go. When she reached home it was late in the afternoon, almost dark. The little girl pushed the door to her home open and hurried up to her mother’s room. When she came into the room the old servant who helped the little girl and her mother, and had been working hard all day taking care of the sick woman, came to the door. She was so tired and so thirsty that she couldn’t even speak to the little girl.
“Do give her some water,” said the mother. “She has worked hard all day and she needs it much more than I do.”
So the little girl held the dipper up to the her lips and the old servant drank some of the water. She felt stronger and better right away and she went over to the frail mother and lifted her up. The little girl didn’t notice that the dipper had changed into a gold dipper and was just as full of water as it was before!
Then she held the cup to her mother’s lips and she drank and drank. Oh, she felt so much better! When she had finished there was still some water left in the dipper. The little girl was just lifting it to her own dry lips when there came a knock on the door. The servant opened it and there stood a stranger. He was very pale and all covered with dust from travelling. “I am thirsty,” he said. “Won’t you give me a little water?”
The little girl replied, “Why, certainly I will, I am sure that you need far more than I do. Drink it all.”
The stranger smiled and took the dipper in his hand, and as he took it, it changed into a diamond dipper. He turned it upside down and all the water spilled out and sank into the ground. And where it spilled a fountain bubbled up. The cool water flowed and splashed – enough for the people and all the animals in the whole land to have all the water they wanted to drink.
As they frolicked in and drank the water everyone forgot about the stranger, but presently when they looked for him, he was gone. The little girl then caught sight of him. He was rising up and vanishing into the sky – and there in the night’s sky, clear and high, shone the diamond dipper. It shines up there yet, and reminds us all of the little girl who was kind and unselfish. It is called the Big Dipper.
This beautiful fable serves as an inspiring reminder to us all that kind and compassionate acts are their own reward, and, though not always apparent, they do have great power to extend way beyond the act itself. We are not fools for giving what we need not keep for, in doing so, we gain what we cannot afford to lose…our humanity.
Have an AWE-full Weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque