Live today and cherish present

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should.

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The

family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead

the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on

the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the

younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they

seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable

farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels

sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the

next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose

milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen?

The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was

willing to share everything, and you let the cow die. "Things aren't always what they seem," t

he older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was

gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to

share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it."

"Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I

gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."