Solomon summoned a wise and enlightened man and asked him to bring balance and serenity in his life at any price. He called his most trusted minister, Benaiah ben Yehoyada and decided to humble him. He said to him, “Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it.””If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty,” replied Benaiah, “I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?”“It has magic powers,” answered the king. “If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.” Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility.
Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of he poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. “Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?” asked Benaiah.
He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile.
That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. “Well, my friend,” said Solomon, “have you found what I sent you after?” All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled.
To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, “Here it is, your majesty!” As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: _gimel, zayin, yud_, which began the words “_Gam zeh ya’avor_” — “This too shall pass.”The wise man offered him a simple gold ring with the inscription “This, too, shall pass,” but the monarch did not understand its meaning. The wise man told the king to wear the ring and whatever happens, good or bad, to touch the ring and read the inscription. This way, he would always be at peace.
In his address to the Wisconsin State Agriculture Society, on Sept. 30, 1859, President Abraham Lincoln said, “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses! How chastened in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depth of affliction!”
I have just sent these quotes to a dear friend of mine who happened to be having a day of “low energy”. I could totally relate to that since I have been finding myself not only having days of low energy, but also blowing up at the slightest irrational worry, anxiety, or fear. It’s a dark place to find yourself especially if those little bombs are blowing up at people who really care about your well being.
I am beginning to realise how to “push past the fear” as I have mentioned in a previous post. I need to REALLY hold on to these quotations and understand (truly understand) that days are going to be sometimes good… sometimes bad. As I hold on to that notion then, and only then, can I look forward to tomorrow with the joy that Maya Angelou describes when she says: “when you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.” That’s what tomorrow may bring… peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.
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