Once upon a time, a king and his men were on their way to hunt, when they saw a simple fellow riding his donkey on the trail ahead of them. In that kingdom, seeing a donkey was considered to be a bad omen. The king was furious. He had been planning for this hunting trip all month, and now this man on the donkey had ruined the whole thing. "Go beat him!" the King commanded his men. They beat the man severely, and then the hunting party went on its way.

That day, the hunt went exceptionally well - in fact, it was the most successful hunt the king had ever had. On his way back to the palace, the king saw that same area of the road where they'd passed the man on his donkey. He felt a little guilty about having his men beat someone who had ended up being a very good omen.

The next morning, the king told his soldiers to bring the man to the castle, so he could apologize to him. The badly bruised man was brought to the king's courtyard. "I want to apologize to you," the king expressed, "It seems that you and your donkey were good omens, after all. Our hunt went exceptionally well."

"Well, your majesty," the man replied, "I saw your face yesterday morning, and look at my body - it's black and blue from head to toe. Tell me, O King, who is a good omen, and who is a bad omen?"


...more of this chapter is available in the book, "Secrets of Spiritual Happiness," by Sharon Janis.

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