The Twigs

Madan had two daughters and two sons. He was a responsible and caring father who gave quality of time to his children whenever he could. Due to the pressure of work he could not find too much time for his family, but whenever he could, he would chat with them. The children always coveted those moments with their father.

One evening while mother was preparing dinner, the children sat in the grassy lawn outside with their father. It was autumn and the grass was strewn with leaves.

Father picked up four twigs, each about six inches long and tied them together with a string. He called his children. First he gave the bundle of twigs to his youngest son and asked him to try and break it into two. The little boy tried but did not succeed. The older son was given the bundle, but he too had no luck.

The younger daughter tried, but she hurt her finger trying to break the bundle. The twigs remained intact. Last of all the eldest daughter was asked to try her hand at it. She too tried hard, but in vain.

Father looked on all the while, smiling at the innocent efforts of all his little children. Then he said, “So, you give up, all of you, right?” “Yes”, they replied in unison. “Can you think of a way to break these twigs?” he asked them. There was no answer from the kids.

Slowly, he proceeded to untie the thread wound around the twigs. He handed one twig each of the children. Then he said, “Now, try to break them.”

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

In a jiffy all of them had broken the twigs into two. They all burst out laughing at their success in doing the job.

Then father sat them all around him and said. “When the twigs were tied together they were strong. The thread that bound them together is the bond of love. When they got separated, each of them, was alone and weak. So, you were able to break them. So too, you are all vulnerable and weak when you are alone. If you stand together and are united, no one in the world can break you. Remember, all your life all of you must remain united, for in so doing you shall confer strength on each other. If you break up, strength shall no longer be yours. Standing alone each of you has the strength of the number 1; together you are as strong as 1111.”

A family is strong when it is united and what better way to remain united than by asking for strength from God. They say, ‘A family that eats together; prays together… stays together.’

Friends, do make it a point to eat at least one meal a day with all the members of your family. Also try to pray together at least once in a week if not once a day. It’s only with the Grace of God that our homes can be abodes of peace and harmony.