A Valuable Lesson

(This story came to me while waiting at the airport in Skopje, Macedonia during the Kosovo refugee crisis)

A young man came to his father one day and said,"I think I'm ready to learn the lessons of life, will you teach me?" The father smiled and said that he would be pleased to help in any way he could. "What lesson will you teach first?" the young man asked. "When the lesson is learned", the father answered, "You will know it".

After a few days the father sent the son to see an elderly man in town, who had a reputation for helping young people along the way of learning the lessons of life. When the young man arrived at the elder's house, the butler asked him to come and wait in the sitting room. After what seemed to be hours, an assistant came in with a message that the elder would not be able to see the young man and that he should come back another day. The young man returned home disappointed and confused.

When his father asked if he had learned anything on the first visit, the son said "No! All I did was just sit and wait." The father said, "Son, you must go again to see the elderly man. He will help you learn the lesson of life." The boy was hesitant, but finally agreed to a second visit.

This time, after what seemed to be hours, the young man was asked to come into the room where the elderly man sat reading a book. After a few moments had passed, the elderly man looked up and peering over his spectacles asked, "Are you learning anything?" Bewildered by the question, the young man replied, "How can I learn anything? All I have done so far is sit and wait." The elderly man chuckled as he returned to his reading, then said to the reluctant learner, "Come back and see me again".

By this time the young man was growing weary of this experience and said to his father, "If I don't learn anything after my next visit to the elder's house, that's it! I'm not going back again".

On the third visit the assistant came in and said that the elder had requested that he come back again sometime time next week. At that, the young man jumped up and shouted angrily, "I've had it! All of this has been a waste of time! I will not come back again!" He stormed out the door and down the street, voicing his frustration so all the world could hear. When his father asked if he had learned anything, the boy growled and closed himself in his room.

Some weeks later, after the young man's anger had subsided somewhat, his father asked the son to accompany him on a trip to another city. Eager to leave his exasperation behind him, the boy quickly accepted his father's invitation,and began packing his bag.

When they arrived at the station, a large crowd was already there, waiting to buy tickets. It was hot. The crowd was noisy and agitated. The children were restless and the babies were crying. As they inched their way to the ticket booth, the young man nudged his father and said, "If the people had been through the experiences like I have had over these past few weeks, maybe they would have a little more patience in situations like this, when all you can do is wait". The father turned and placed his hands on his son's shoulders and looking straight into his eyes asked the lingering question,"Have you learned anything about the lessons of life"? The son stood silent for a moment. Then with a smile and a countenance that assured the father that the light was beginning to dawn, the young man answered, "Thanks Dad. Yes. I think I'm beginning to learn now."