"Did You Know Everything Happens To You For A Reason And You Should Be Thankful"

This Is Good
By: Author Unknown

An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close
friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of
looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life
(positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!" One
day the king and his friend were out on a hunting
expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for
the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in
preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his
friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This
is good!"

To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and
proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he
should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him
and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked
some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As
they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that
the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they
never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the
king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was
reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt
remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately
to the jail to speak with his friend.

"You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was
blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had
just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to
jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"

"What do you mean,'This is good'? How could it be good that
I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."