Carrot, egg or coffee

[ustbeeowl]

This is one that I have been working on for a while now. I will be giving it to my Scouts this weekend on our January campout. I got the idea from a friends e-mail, and I modified it for the Scouts.

 

 

The carrot, the egg and the coffee

 

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again........

 

A young Scout went to his Scoutmaster one campout and told him about his life and how things were so hard for him. He did not know how he was going to make it and wanted to give up and quit. He was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

 

The Scoutmaster took him to the mess tent. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first pot, he placed carrots, in the second one he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

 

In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.

 

Turning to the Scout, he asked, "Tell me what you see."

Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the Scout replied.

 

The Scoutmaster brought him closer and asked him to feel the carrots. He did and noted that they were soft. The Scoutmaster then asked the Scout to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, the Scout observed the hard boiled egg.

 

Finally, the Scoutmaster asked the Scout to sip the coffee. The Scout smiled as he tasted its rich aroma.

The Scout then asked, "What does all of this mean?"

 

The wise Scoutmaster explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, or trial if you will...boiling water. Each reacted differently.

 

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

 

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

 

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

 

Which are you?" he asked the Scout. "When adversity or hardship knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

 

Ask yourself this: Which am I?

 

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Do I forget all that I have been taught in Scouting?

 

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break-up, a financial hardship, age out of Scouts, never reaching my goal of Eagle or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened and discouraged heart?

 

Or am I like the coffee bean? The beans actually change the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor of the coffee beans. If you are like the beans, when things are at their worst, you get better and using your Scouting skills, change the situation around you.

 

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you bring yourself up to a higher level? How do you handle adversity?

 

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

 

 

May we ALL be COFFEE.

 

(Edited for spelling)(This message has been edited by ustbeeowl)

[local1400]

That's good Owl. Welcome to the forum. I like my carrots with butter, eggs with real mayo, and cream and sugar in my coffee!

[EagleInKY]

Nice one from a wise ol' Owl!!!

[jr56]

Excellent post, but, Owls are food for Foxes.

[CrewMomma]

So it's all that coffee that is keeping us Owls awake all night!!!!

[OldGrayOwl]

Thanks,

From one Owl to another owl.

 

 

[moxieman]

Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. As for me, coffee gives me the shakes. I'm very caffeine sensitive and what's the point of drinking that stuff if it's decaf?

[Gold Winger]

Let's see, the guy managed to overcook everything. Sheesh! BOIL coffee for 20 minutes. You wouldn't have anything worth drinking, you'd have sludge. At least the egg is nutritious and hard boiled are any anything but bitter and tought. Boiled coffee is bitter, acidic, and quite nasty.

 

Sorry, my humble opinion is that's a bad parable.

[PeteM]

How about 10 minutes, providing that he uses very small carrots?

 

It is SUPPOSED to be about how well you can handle "hot water", not some sort of cooking class.

[Gold Winger]

Metaphors still need to make sense or else they don't work.