Everything is For the Good

[Guest guest]

There were two people who were shipwrecked. They found themselves on an island,

which was uninhabited. Out of the branches and leaves of trees, they built for

themselves a cottage.

 

One of the two men was an atheist. The other, a devout soul. The latter urged

that there was good in all that had happened. The unbeliever scoffed at him. But

both of them managed to get along with each other.

 

Everyday, they would go out to the seashore and wave their hands in the hope

that some passing steamer would view them from afar and come to their rescue.

Every evening, they returned to their cottage.

 

One evening, as they returned, they found that during their absence, the cottage

had caught fire and had been reduced to ashes.

 

The atheist lost his mood and cursed the elements. But the man of faith said to

him: "Friend, be no depressed. Surely, there must be some good in this too! God

must have meant well for us!" The atheist felt exasperated and shouted: "You and

your God! I shall have nothing to do with either of you!"

 

However, the next morning, as they went to the seashore, they found a small

steamer waiting for them. The captain of the boat told them that the previous

day he had seen smoke rising from the island which made him feel that there were

some who might need his help.

 

— J.P. Vaswani