Page 72 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

d
66 Mystic pathways through the bible
nine dollars into the shop of the blacksmith. When the blacksmith entered his shop, he found the bag and wondered how it had gotten there. Unable to solve the mystery, he decided to keep the money and make good use of it.
The idea then came to his mind, “It is only one dollar less than a hundred. It would have been better if it was a hundred—a nice, even number.” So the next day he worked very hard and, instead of just earning one dollar, he brought his total to one-hundred-twenty-four. Then he thought, “If the amount I had was just one dollar more, it would be a perfect mathematical amount.” So the next day he worked hard again, and the pattern continued— always needing a little more to make a nice, round gure. As the days passed, the blacksmith lost the mental peace he had always enjoyed in his work and he stopped singing. Of course, the wealthy neighbor was delighted, because his plan had worked, just as he had hoped!
One day the blacksmith suddenly realized that he was becoming sick, weak and restless. Then he re ected, “All my trouble started from those ninety-nine dollars.” He gathered that money and now realizing it came from his wealthy neighbor, threw the money back over the fence into the rich man’s yard, thinking that he could surely make good use of it.