BLESSED
ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
In
days gone by, two brothers, Raul and Johan, who lived on adjoining farms fell
into conflict. It was their first
serious rift in 35 years of farming side by side in central Germany, sharing
machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed without a single problem
occurring.
However,
one autumn, their long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it
grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of
bitter words followed by weeks of silence between the two brothers.
One
morning there was a knock on Raul’s door. He opened it to find a man holding a carpenter’s
toolbox. “I’m looking for a few days work,” Angelis said. “Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here
and there I could help with? Could I
help you in any way?”
“Yes,”
answered Raul, extremely pleased to see Angelis the carpenter, “I do have a job
for you. Look across the creek at that
farm. That’s my neighbor; in fact, it’s
my younger brother, Johan’s farm. Last
week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee
and now there is a creek between us.
Well, he might have done this to spite me, but I’ll go him one better. See that pile of lumber by the barn? I want you to build me a fence; an 8-foot
fence, so I won’t need to see Johan’s place nor his face anymore!”
Angelis
the carpenter said thoughtfully, “I think I understand the situation. Show me
the nails and the posthole digger and I’ll be able to do a job that really pleases
you.”
Raul
then left for the nearby town, Erfurt, so he helped the carpenter get the
materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day
measuring, sawing, nailing, and hammering.
About sunset when Raul returned, the carpenter had just finished his
job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his
jaw dropped. There was no fence there at
all.
It
was a bridge…a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other. A fine piece of work it was, handrails and
all, and the neighbor, his younger brother Johan, was coming across, his hand
outstretched. “You are quite a fellow to
build this bridge after all I’ve said and done,” Johan smiled. The two brothers stood at each end of the
bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his
toolbox on his shoulder. “No wait,” they
chimed in together. Stay a few
days. We’ve a lot of other projects for
you!”
“I’d
love to stay on,” Angelis murmured quietly, “but I have so many more bridges to
build.”
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