Welcome
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Heart Tales is a monthly newsletter for people on an adventure toward wholeness. It is published by Jim Cyr, storyteller, author, crisis intervention specialist, and minister.
Archive for the ‘February 2008, No. 25’ Category
The Serving Giant
Friday, December 5th, 2008
From Five Minute Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald
A poor farmer was once digging in his field when Bonk! His hoe struck something hard. What could it be? He thought. He dug and soon unearthed a large jar. “Oh, this might be like in the old stories! Maybe it is full of gold!”
The farmer was so excited. He quickly pulled off the lid of the jar. Whoosh! A cloud of smoke rushed out of the jar! The farmer shrank back in fright. Then the cloud of smoke began to form itself into the shape of an enormous GIANT! The farmer dropped to his knees in terror.
But the giant simply bowed and put his hands together respectfully in a polite wai; Master, I have come to serve you. I will do any task you ask.
The farmer sat up. This sounded good! “But I must warn you, continued the giant, if you do not keep me busy will have to eat you.” The man was terrified all over again. “No problem,” said the giant. “As long as I have something to do, I can control my urge to gobble you up.”
The farmer thought, “I can use help on my farm. I am sure I can keep this creature busy.” So he ordered: “Remove all the rocks from this field. And hoe the entire garden.
“Yes, Master.” The giant chanted, “Ohm piang!” In an instant, the rocks were removed and the garden was hoed. “Finished, Master. Next task?”
The farmer hadn’t thought the giant could do this task so quickly. This time, he had better think of something that would take longer. “Giant, build me a house. It must be built of wood from the distant forest…The wood must be selected with care…The walls must be… The farmer gave many directions.
“This should take him quite a while,” thought the farmer. But, “Ohm piang!” A new house stood before the farmer.
“Finished, Master. Next task?” All day long the farmer though up task after task for the giant. But no matter how complicated the work, the giant completed it in a flash. “Ohm piang!” Finished Master. Next task?”
The farmer was desperate. As long as he was awake, he could keep thinking up tasks for the giant. But as soon as he fell asleep, the giant would run out of chores and eat him! Suddenly the farmer had an inspiration! He issued an order that the giant could never complete! Then he lay down and fell asleep with relief.
Here is your riddle: What was the order that the farmer gave to the giant?
What was the task he could never complete?
Share your answers with me by emailing them to jim@hearttales.net and I will post all the answers, along with the answer that comes with the story in next month’s newsletter.
Thought to Ponder
Friday, December 5th, 2008
What in modern day life is like the serving giant?
Your Comments Welcome
Friday, December 5th, 2008
I invite you to send me your thoughts about “The Serving Giant.” You can email me at jim@hearttales.net
Heart Tales Happenings
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Book
My book, The Cracked Pot: Finding Grace in the Cracks of Childhood Abuse, is available at Amazon.com.
“This is one man’s true story of the unspeakable things that were done to him as a child and his rocky journey through adulthood to find God, peace AND his true self. “
Blog
If you enjoy this newsletter, check out The Heart Tales Blog at http://hearttales.net/blog. The blog is published every Monday and Thursday and contains a story with a brief reflection.
Telecast
If you missed the telecast of my interview with Diane Eble you can hear the replay at http://www.askjimcyr.com/replay.php
About Jim & Heart Tales
Friday, December 5th, 2008
The true spirit of my work is to lead people on a life-changing adventure toward wholeness by connecting their hearts to their true selves, to others, and to God, through stories of healing, wisdom, and faith. My life-changing adventure toward wholeness includes performances of folk and fairy tales, sacred stories, and personal stories, and workshops on how to tell stories in therapeutic settings.
Feedback
Friday, December 5th, 2008“Jim’s storytelling spoke to many of the problems our women face on the road to recovery from addiction and gave them options for handling those problems they had not considered before.”
Helen Raytek, Program Director, Crawford House
“Jim, I want to thank you for your time, efforts, and talents in presenting your Clinical Benefits of Storytelling Workshop. I was very impressed with your professional and fun deliverance of the material and many useful resources and examples. I felt I benefited from it both personally and professionally, and will use what I learned…”
John J. D. Schweska, L.P.C. Assistant Program Director, Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen
“…your newsletter is a wonderful resource, and I hope that many will subscribe to it.”
Dr. Robert Bela Wilhelm, Storyfest Ministry
“…Thank you once again, Jim, for sharing your stories/your story and influencing my healing.”
Eileen