Thoughtful Resolutions Go A Long Way

The Japanese tell a story of an old man long ago who sat on his front stoop whittling wood and watching a sparrow hop around in his garden. A boy came running by and threw a rock at the sparrow, breaking its leg. The old man saw a crow flying overhead and said to himself, “The crow’ll get the sparrow, I have to help.” So he rescued the sparrow, set the leg, and, over the next month, cared for the little bird until it was well enough to fly.

Once the sparrow flew away, the old man became sad. He missed the simple, needful little bird. But a few weeks later, the sparrow showed up, cheeping loudly in the garden.

“You haven’t forgotten me!” the old man cried.

“Not in the least,” the sparrow said, speaking now for the first time. “And I’ve brought you something.” The sparrow dropped a single gourd seed into the garden, then said a last goodbye and flew away.

Within a month, the old man had the largest gourd garden anyone had ever seen. He gave gourds away to all his family members and neighbors. One huge gourd in particular he hung up to dry in his own hut. When he took it down and cut off the top he found rice inside. When he ate the rice, more rice appeared. This rice he shared with his children and grandchildren, but the gourd never stopped giving rice.

“What more could I want out of life?” the old man said. “I have known the kind of joy that never ends.”

Today is the first day of 1995. It is a day for making New Year’s resolutions. The old man’s story inspires me to come closer this year than I’ve ever been to saying, “What more could I want out of life?”

We hear a lot during the Christmas season about finding joy. Then we stop hearing the word “joy.” Why is that? Is joy something we only celebrate when we’re celebrating a divine birth?

We hear a lot during the season about “giving,” then we hear much less about it. Why is that? Is giving something we’re only capable of when it’s hyped?

Albert Schweitzer said, “The only ones around you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” The old Japanese man found how to serve near the end of his life. Hopefully, his story, like the biblical story of Jesus, inspires us to learn to serve, to give and feel joy wherever we are, however old we are, right now.

This New Year, try asking and answering these questions before you make your resolutions.

1. Have I given as much in my life as I’ve received?

2. Have I forgiven others as much as I’ve asked others to forgive me?

3. Have I learned to give without requiring something to be given back to me?

4. When I am given, do I feel I deserve the gift, and thus receive it joyfully?

This year I resolve to give plentifully, but without losing my boundaries to false giving.

I have made a list of those people in my family and community I need to forgive, and I resolve to accomplish this forgiveness before the end of 1995.

I resolve to notice hurt sparrows in whatever form they take, and give them sustenance, without requiring anything back from them. I know that these sparrows may take the form of my family members, members of my extended spiritual community, people I work with, and creatures of the earth.

This year I resolve that should these sparrows reward me with some form of a gourd, I’ll take the reward gracefully. I don’t know about you, but it is taking me a long time to realize that if I am rewarded for good work, I deserve the reward.

If each of us can give as much as we receive, forgive as much as we wish to be forgiven, and receive without negating the gift, we will add a year’s worth of joy to ourselves, our families and our communities.

We will be blessed this holiday season with feelings and goals to last long after the trees come down and January is just a memory.