Faith Works

Author Unknown

 

There  was  an  old  man  who  operated  a  rowboat  for  ferrying  passengers between  an  island  and the mainland. One day a passenger noticed that he had painted on one oar the word "Works", and on the other oar the word "Faith". Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this.

The  old  man replied, "I will show you," dropping one oar, rowing only with the oar named "Works". Of course, the boat just went around in circles. Then he switched oars, picking up "Faith" and dropping "Works". And the little rowboat went around in circles again... this time in the opposite direction.

After this demonstration, the old man picked up both oars "Faith" and "Works", and rowing with both oars together swiftly coursed over the water. He looked at the passenger and said, "You see, that is the way it is in life as well as in rowing a boat. You got to keep both oars in the water, otherwise, you'll just go in circles."