The Totem Pole

The first will be last, and the last will be first.   Along the shores of British Columbia you can find totem poles among Indian villages, beside their great lodges, or along the shore. The animals of a totem pole are special to the people of that village. One village was very poor, and no animals had come to be their totem pole. The villagers were sad, and their eyes had no joy because they had no totems. Many of the animals knew about it, and finally a bear decided that if no one else were going to be these…

The Prisoner Who Set Himself Free

When you forgive someone, you set a prisoner free—yourself.   The jailer sat by the prison cell door. He glumly looked at the man inside, who abruptly turned his head away and folded his arms. The jailer said to the prisoner, “You need to let me go.” “No!” snapped the prisoner from behind the iron bars of the cold, gray cell. The thick stone walls afforded only a tiny window that peeked out to the surrounding world. “Please let me go! You must,” the jailer insisted. “Why should I?” demanded the prisoner. “Because there’s no use carrying on like this….