Once I visited a friend’s home for dinner. After dinner, his wife asked
their daughter if she would help wash the dishes. To my amazement, the
seventeen-year-old daughter made an ugly gesture and said, “Mom, I have to watch
a program on TV,” and ran to her room. The wife worked very hard. When the
program was over, the girl came back to the living room. As the others were
engaged in a heated discussion, I called the girl to me, put my arm around her,
and said, “If I ask you five questions, will you give me five really honest
answers?” “Why not?” she giggled.
“The first question is, How many months did your mother carry you in her
womb?”
“Nine months.”
“Good. And how many months did she breast-feed you?”
“I think fourteen months.”
“Good. Now the third question. How many years did she clean your clothes,
your sheets, and so on?”
“Almost seventeen.”
“Good. The fourth question is how many years has your mother cooked for
you, fed you, and clothes you?”
“Almost seventeen.”
“Good. The last question is, how have you expressed gratitude to her for
all her labor?”
She looked in my eyes and kept silent. Then she said, “Good night,” and
disappeared to her room.
Because I knew the family, I kept track of her life. She dropped out of
school, left the family, went to work as a bartender, and came home drunk every
night.
Those who have no gratitude cannot cooperate. Without gratitude and
cooperation, they become losers in life...
-Torkom Saraydarian
Dynamics of the Soul
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