Little Parables E-Book

Alfredo Villa

• Herausgeber: Alfredo Villa
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

“Parable [par‘ə bəl] n.A short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.”The title is in the diminutive form out of respect for the official definition of the word parable, and above all out of deference to those works which constitute the true and only real Parables.The 89 short stories which make up this manuscript do indeed respect that intent. Sitting in a Paradise where time runs simultaneously still, God lowers his gaze on to those ordinary events which have as their main characters all the animate and inanimate forms of creation. It is a multitude of points of dialogue between the earthly and the divine, where God – surprisingly human – discovers Himself to be able to learn from the results of his creative intention. Objects, plants and animals are presented in allegories of virtue and fault, all the while leaving the reader to discover where the story passes from the realm of the simple tale to that of becoming an opportunity for reflection. The language used is in the simple style of fairytales, with ample recourse to direct speech to give voice to the various characters rather than to an all-knowing narrator.If reading these “little parables” could generate even the slightest inkling of gratitude and love towards God, that would surely be a wonderful thing. I feel, in all honesty, that even a simple, tiny, and apparently insignificant gesture of affection, no more than the hint of a caress in God’s direction, would suffice for Him as our acceptance of the gift of His Mercy and His Salvation. We can receive all that was promised, which is so very much, in exchange for so little.

Leseprobe

Alfredo Villa

Little parables

Little parables

Alfredo Villa

Edizione Luglio 2014

ISBN 9786050311570

Autopubblicato con Narcissus.me

www.narcissus.me

Edizione digitale realizzata da Simplicissimus Book Farm srl

ISBN: 9786050311570

Questo libro è stato realizzato con BackTypo (http://backtypo.com)un prodotto di Simplicissimus Book Farm

Indice dei contenuti

THIRST

DRINKS

THE DOG

AUGUSTINE

THE CINEMA

DIGNITY

BISCUITS

PUPPET

THE RIVER

TREES

THE SPONGES

THE SADDLEBAGS

THE ROOM

THE POOL

THE TRANSLATION

WITHOUT INFLUENCE

PUZZLE

THE UNDERGROUND

TRAVEL COMPANIONS

SNAKESKIN

THE PRAWN

THE PRAYER

THE DOOR

GENESIS

THE BULLDOG

THE ICE-CREAM

THE EUCHARIST

THE SHOWER

THE DIAMOND

AGE

THE MOTORBIKE

DISSATISFACTION

THE PIRATES

THE FATHER

THE REWARD

TEAMWORK

THE ORANGE TREE

THE MEDALLION

REINCARNATION

THE BUCKETS OF WATER

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

COLOUR

THE SWISS GENTLEMAN

ANIMAL

HEART

TRINITY

DEMONSTRATION

MEDICINE

GEOMETRY

THE THOUSANDTH

BUDDHAHOOD

THE FLOOD

PANGEA

DUALISM

A HUNDREDFOLD

THE MOSAIC

THE SACRIFICE

DIALOGUE

DENIAL

MATERIALS

THE TRUTH

THE GUARDIAN DEVIL

FEAR

BEAUTIFUL

THE UGLIEST

THE ARK

THE PERFECT PLACE

FREEDOM

MONKS

THE RAG

ART

DILUTION

HISTORY

THE INTERNET

RELATIVE

THE CONFESSOR

ESCORT

VASES

THE PORTS

BALANCE

BLINDNESS

ETERNITY

THE SYMBOL

IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS

RAIN

THE EGGS

THE SINGING

THE FLAG

THIRST

THANKS TO THE LIVING

THANKS TO THE DEAD

THE HYMN OF DON LUIGI

If reading these “little parables” could generate even the slightest inkling of gratitude and love towards God, that would surely be a wonderful thing.

I feel, in all honesty, that even a simple, tiny, and apparently insignificant gesture of affection, no more than the hint of a caress in God’s direction, would suffice for Him as our acceptance of the gift of His Mercy and His Salvation.

We can receive all that was promised, which is so very much, in exchange for so little. 

For God

in gratitude and love

For Cristina

for the same reason

THIRST

God and man.

Both infinitely thirsty.

Separated by a non-existent moat.

Each one of them is carrying a single flask.

Each one’s flask contains the only drink that could quench the thirst of the other.

DRINKS

Ever since the beginning of time, whenever he was thirsty, man would go to a spring and drink the water.

Animals would do the same, as do plants, which receive their water in the form of raindrops.

Water would quench the thirst of all and everyone.

The world we know was born of water.

With the development of knowledge and science, man didn’t just take possession of water; in one part of the world he invented beer, in another tea, in another coffee, soft drinks in yet another, and so on, to make hundreds of different beverages.

To the point that even when we ask simply for water, this is provided with the addition of fizzy bubbles.

From natural thirst to exploited thirst.

There have even been trade wars to demonstrate how one drink was better than another.

Wars and divisions that by now have lasted for centuries.

So everyone has forgotten that water is not only the one ingredient that is common to all drinks, but that without the precious simplicity of spring water, there would not be a single beverage in existence, and neither would there be anyone to drink it. 

THE DOG

God was sitting under a beautiful tree.

A dog was curled up at his feet; as God smiled at it affectionately he summoned three of his wisest angels and said to them:

“I’d like you to go to Earth to experience the life of man directly.

Tell me which talents you would like me to bestow on you now, and how you will better be able to serve me in Paradise when you return from this journey.”

The first angel made his request, saying:

“I’d like to be given the rationality which distinguishes superior beings. Then, while I’m on Earth, I’ll be able to employ my highly refined reflections to convince a great number of men of the inevitable necessity of believing in You and loving You. In this way, when I return to Paradise followed by all the people I shall have been able to convince, we shall all be able to sit at Your feet and listen in full awareness to Your word.”

The second angel made his request, saying:

“I’d like to be given the beauty which distinguishes superior beings. Then, while I’m on Earth I’ll be able use beauty and art to convince a great number of people like me of the wonderful aesthetic experience we all share in believing in You and loving You. In this way, when I return to Paradise followed by all the people I shall have been able to convince, we shall all be able to sit at Your feet and admire, in full awareness, Your supreme beauty.”

The third angel made his request, saying:

“I’d like to be given the humanity which distinguishes human beings. I’d like to eat, love, and sleep, to feel compassion and to cry with laughter, to share and to be excluded, to dance and to fall prostrate, to procreate and to disavow, to fall and to rise up, to pray and to blaspheme, and however to live as a weak and despicable man, such as we all are until we die, trusting, even though with many doubts, in Your Mercy. What I mean is that I want to do everything that is ordinary and extraordinary on Earth. Then, when I return to Paradise, followed and awaited by all those I have loved, I want to be your dog, so that I can curl up at your feet and dream my simple dreams.”

And since time in Paradise is relative, and all that happens is in the eternal present, after listening to all this, God got up, a little bored by all those praises and all those endless hymns, and went off to a faraway cloud, followed by his two dogs.