LRJ #3 (Zen Parables)

Morals:
Muddy Road: Don't think twice about helping someone.
A Parable: This can be interpreted two ways; don't be a sore loser and enjoy life while you have it.
Publishing the Sutras: Actions speak louder then words. Showing compassion towards others provides a better example compared to just writing about how to show compassion.
The Thief Who Became a Disciple: "the best way to destroy an enemy is to make them a friend" -Benjamin Franklin (My favorite quote... I've lived it)
The Taste of Banzo's Sword: Patience brings the greatest rewards.

My Parable:
There once was two farmers. One of the farmers was the best in the county. He carefully and lovingly tended to all of crops and livestock, and this caused the biggest fruits and vegetables in the county (guess who would always receive blue ribbons...). Not only did he know how to farm well, but a was a good neighbor too. He loved his family and friends and would give almost anything to help them. he would often be heard saying things like, "Hey, is your tractor broken? Why don't you borrow mine, I could use the exercise" or, "If your crop didn't turn out too well, feel free to come over to my house. We'll cook you up some dinner and send you back home with the leftovers". He was a mighty fine man and well loved by just 'bout everybody.
Well... almost everybody. There was another farmer down the road and he was one of the meanest and nastiest people you could ever meet. All his crops were so shriveled, you wouldn't even dare touch one out of fear the poor dying thing would crumble to dust. His livestock didn't fare any better. The cows were so shriveled that about the only thing you could get out of them was leather, and that'd be a merciful thing to do, just puttin' them out of their misery. He had been married n' divorced 3 times, the last one lasting about 4 hours, tops. He had 13 kids (oh what an unlucky number) and the ones who could legally drink were almost always drunk, and the ones who were too young were secretly sneaking large shots of vodka, and because it was a secret, the whole community knew about it. The only way this bad farmer would make money was tricking everyone else into thinking that they were in debt to him and still needed to pay it off. We caught on pretty soon and decided to stop inviting him to things we do as a community, but he'd just invite himself over anyway and ruin for just about everybody but himself. Nobody liked having him around.
Eventually, karma caught up to this wicked farmer and smacked him in the back of the head so hard, he went about doing enough bounces and flips to win the gold medal in gymnastics at the Olympics. It turns out he had been ignoring his taxes for too long, so they seized everything that he had. They took his house, land, and everything in them and sold them off to the highest bidder, casting him out onto the street. Even worse, they took all his children and brought them to various orphanages around the state. This was a devastating enough loss that it could even bring a cold hearted man such as him self to tears. He eventually collapsed into a soggy pile of a defeated man on the side of the road.
Now, around this time, the good neighbor was walking past, and he saw this man pathetically lying on the ground. Now, it would've taken absolutely no effort to just keep on walking past and let that men get what was coming, but this good neighbor stopped, laid a calm hand on his shoulder and asked what was wrong. The bad neighbor was reluctant at first; thinking that this man was only here to humiliate him, but eventually figured that it couldn't hurt more that it already did. Much to his surprise, the good neighbor was actually interested in helping him. He offered the bad neighbor food and housing as long the bad neighbor would help him out if the fields. The bad neighbor enthusiastically took up the offer surprised that anyone would be willing to do something nice for him.
As the bad neighbor began to live with the good neighbor, he eventually realized exactly how hard it often is to do the right thing instead of taking the easy way out and turning your head to the side. As time went on, the bad neighbor slowly became a good neighbor, becoming generous to all those around him, raising all things with a good healthy pinch of TLC, and became a better person in general. He eventually was able to save up enough money from working for the good neighbor that he was able to buy his land back, and was was just as generous, if not occasionally more with the resources at his disposal than the good neighbor. It just goes to show you that a small act of kindness can go a long way.