Take a step toward the light...

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into an old dry well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway; that it just was not worth it to try to figure out how to get the donkey out of the well.

The farmer invited his neighbors to come over and help him fill in the old well -- burying the donkey at the same time. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well. When the donkey realized what was happening it cried out even more horribly and loudly.

Then, as they kept shoveling, to everyone's amazement the donkey suddenly quieted down. They looked down the well and were astonished at what they saw.
 

With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake the dirt off and pack the dirt under its hooves -- thus coming higher up in the well. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off, step up, and come higher and higher up in the well.

Pretty soon, when the well was almost totally filled in, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well of our troubles is to shake the dirt off and take a step up. Each obstacle is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping, never giving up! Shake off the dirt life sends your way and take a step up towards the light.

 

A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out... 

 

A subjective person came along and said, "I feel for you down there." 

 

An objective person walked by and said, "It's logical that someone would fall down there." 

 

A Pharisee said, "Only bad people fall into pits." 

 

A mathematician calculated how deep the pit was. 

 

A news reporter wanted the exclusive story on the pit. 

 

An IRS agent asked if he was paying taxes on the pit. 

 

A self-pitying person said, "You haven't seen anything until you've seen my pit." 

 

A fire-and-brimstone preacher said, "You deserve your pit." 

 

A Christian Scientist observed, "The pit is just in your mind." 

 

A psychologist noted, "Your mother and father are to blame for your being in that pit." 

 

A self-esteem therapist said, "Believe in yourself and you can get out of that pit." 

 

An optimist said, "Things could be worse." 

 

A pessimist claimed, "Things will get worse."

 

Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.