Why are most conversations so shallow?
There once was an old man who was slowly dying in the hospital. He built a multi-billion dollar business, he owned a large beautiful mansion, and he had 4 spoiled adult-children; who quarreled with each other all the time. And they would only visit him when they needed to ask for more money.
As he was dying alone in the hospital, he began to write his final wish. He wrote that he wanted someone in the family to go and dig his grave in the very far corner of his orchard. And then he passed away.
Immediately, the family was summoned to the hospital, the note was discovered, and family was in an uproar. For they all refused to go out in the middle of winter to go and dig his grave. Instead they were far too concerned with arguing over the inheritance. But just as the family was leaving the hospital, the youngest grandson slipped over to the hospital bed and held his grandfather’s cold limp hand. He wept, for he loved his grandpa. And before this boy left, he took the note and kept it.
The next day, the whole family was at the mansion. They were still arguing over the inheritance. And while this was going on, this little boy slipped away again and walked to the far corner of his grandfather’s orchard. And he began to dig and cry. He loved his grandfather so much and missed him dearly. And even though his hands were freezing and the ground was so hard, he continued to dig until it was almost dark. And just as he was about to finish, his shovel struck something that was unusually hard. He reached in and found a small wooden box. And when he opened it, he discovered that there was a letter inside. It read: “Thank you for loving me. It is my will to give my entire inheritance to the one who has dug this grave for me.”
Almost all of us hide deep and precious treasures below the surface of all our conversations. The reason why we don’t keep them out in the open is because we are waiting to see who really does care for us. For those who do, will take the time to dig deep in our conversations. Their willingness to listen gives us proof that we can trust them enough to share what is most precious to us.
