Sabtu, 13 Juni 2009

Why the Tower of Wasserburg Church Remains Unfinished

Bavaria
The Wasserburg town hall was built more than 600 years ago. A legend is connected to the history of this building.
At Wasserburg they were building a church and a town hall at the same time. Thus they engaged many masons and construction workers, and instructed the masters to not delay.

Two diligent stonemasons, named Hans and Stephan, took charge of the work. The older one, Hans, supervised the construction of the church; the younger one, Stephen, the town hall. Both were experienced in the art of building, having participated together in the construction of many a marvelous structure, also in southern Europe. They proceeded once again together with the plans, extending to one another the hand of true friendship and swearing that they would help each other like good brothers, without hate and without envy.
Because every good work should be rewarded, if it is to advance and succeed, the man who finished his project first was promised a reward, provided that the work was worthy and without blemish.
Do you want to know what kind of reward it was to be? A very unusual reward, neither of gold and silver, nor a medal of honor: It was the mayor's beautiful daughter.
Both stonemasons had cast their eyes on the girl at the same time, and this was no secret to her father. Because both were skilled and upright people, the mayor did not care if his daughter would take the one or the other as a bridegroom. Thus he promised her to the one who would first complete his building. However, the bride-to-be was not consulted in this matter. In her heart she had already chosen Stephen, the younger man.
As luck would have it, Stephan completed his building first. The town hall was finished, but the church tower's steeple was still missing. The competition was over. Stephan was to take home the mayor's wealthy and beautiful daughter as his bride.
This was a difficult test of friendship. Hans accepted his fate without envy and complaint, devoting himself to his friend as before. But Stephan could not see it the same way. He did not feel right surrounded by good fortune while his friend was unhappy. Thus he walked about sadly and despondent, thinking to himself how he might be freed of his misery.
One day he disappeared. In his room, instead of himself, there was a stone statue of him and a written message, in which he extended his final greetings to his friend and to his bride-to-be. He revealed to them his decision to join a distant monastery.
The legend does not tell us if Hans took home the abandoned bride. However, the friend appears to have lost all joy in his work, because the church tower's steeple is missing even today.
The statue of loyal Stephen is still preserved in the town hall of Wasserburg.

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Perjuangan Pohon Bambu


Pada suatu waktu aku merasa sangat jenuh dan bosan dengan kehidupan ini dan ingin berhenti dari semuanya, berhenti dari pekerjaan, hubungan, spiritual... dan berhenti untuk hidup.


Aku pergi ke tengah hutan dan ingin berbicara untuk yang terakhir kalinya dengan Sang Pencipta.

"Tuhan, mohon berikan saya satu alasan untuk tetap hidup dan berjuang?"

Ternyata jawaban Maha Pencipta yang Agung sangat mengejutkan....

"Lihat di sekelilingmu, apakah kamu melihat tanaman Semak dan pohon Bambu?

"Ya," jawabku.

Yang Maha Pencipta mulai bertutur:

"Saat aku menanam benih Semak dan Bambu, aku memelihara mereka dengan sangat baik dan hati-hati. Aku memberi mereka sinar matahari, menyirami dengan air seadil-adilnya. Tanaman Semak tumbuh dengan sangat cepat. Daun-daunnya yang hijau tumbuh rimbun sampai menutupi tanah disekelilingnya. Sedangkan benih Bambu belum memperlihatkan apapun.

Tetapi aku tidak menyerah dan tetap memelihara mereka dengan baik dan adil. Pada Tahun ke-2, tanaman Semak tumbuh makin subur, rimbun dan makin bertambah banyak. Tetapi, benih Bambu tetap belum memperlihatkan tanda-tanda pertumbuhan.

Pada tahun ke-3, benih Bambu masih sama seperti sebelumnya. Tetapi, tetap Aku tidak menyerah. Begitu juga dengan tahun ke-4 masih sama saja. Aku bertahan untuk tidak menyerah.

Kemudian, pada tahun ke-5, tunas kecil mulai muncul dari benih bambu. Jika dibandingkan dengan tanaman semak, tunas ini sangat kecil dan sepertinya tidak sebanding dengan tanaman semak.

Tetapi 6 bulan kemudian pohon Bambu tumbuh hingga mencapai ketinggian 100 kaki.
Ternyata Bambu menghabiskan waktu 5 tahun untuk menumbuhkan dan menguatkan akarnya. Akar-akar tersebut membuat Bambu menjadi sangat kuat sehingga kokoh menghadapi keadaan alam yang berubah-ubah. Bahkan pohon Bambu sangat berguna untuk kehidupan.

Aku tidak akan memberikan cobaan yang lebih berat dari kemampuannya kepada ciptaanku."

Aku terdiam. Menyimak baik-baik.

"Anakku, apakah kamu sadar, selama ini kamu telah berjuang dan memperkuat akar? Aku tidak menyerah saat menanam benih dan memelihara pohon Bambu, begitu juga denganmu. Jangan membandingkan dirimu dengan yang lain. Bambu mempunyai fungsi yang berbeda dengan Semak, tetapi tetap mereka membuat hutan menjadi indah. Waktumu akan tiba dan kamu akan tumbuh dengan tinggi."

"Tetapi, seberapa tinggi saya harus tumbuh?" tanyaku.

Maha Pencipta menjawab: "Seberapa tinggi pohon Bambu tumbuh?"

"Apakah setinggi kemampuan dan usahanya?" tanyaku lagi

"Benar Anakku. Berusahalah sebaik dan semaksimal mungkin."

Kemudian aku pergi meninggalkan hutan dengan membawa kisah ini. Aku harap kisah ini dapat membantumu melihat bahwa Tuhan tidak pernah menyerah untukmu.

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