The Little Girl And Mushrooms

The Little Girl And Mushrooms

Short Story By Leo Tolstoy

Innocence and love are characteristic features of little children. Leo Tolstoy’s story about two sisters meeting with a near disaster brings out the extent of innocence, heart wrenching emotions and love that are the hall marks of kids all over the world. Read on to familiarize yourself with this story.

It was a fine summer morning, perfect to be outdoors. Two sisters had been out mushroom picking, and were on their home with heavy baskets full of mushrooms. They sang songs on the way, and played with each other.

Soon they reached a point where they had to cross a railway track. They did not think twice about crossing it since there was no train coming, and they could not hear any whistle. They slowly climbed the embankment to cross the track, taking care not to drop the baskets. They were very near the track and the little sister was about the cross it, when they heard the distinct horn of a train.

The older sister got frightened and ran back. She thought that the young one was following her. She turned back and was shocked to see her little sister still crossing the track. “Come back here, run back fast,” she screamed.

It seemed that the little girl could not hear her sister. She was still concentrating on stepping over the track with her little feet, and holding on to the basket. Then she tripped and fell on the track, scattering her mushrooms around. She sat down and began picking them up and putting in her basket.

In the meanwhile the elder sister had become hysteric. She cried and screamed, calling her little sister to leave the mushrooms and run back, but it seemed as though the little one could not hear her.

The engine driver panicked on seeing the girl and blew his whistle with all his might, but she appeared not to hear the whistle. Her sister was now crying loudly, overcome by panic, as the little sister crawled between the tracks on her hands and knees, to pick the rest of the mushrooms.

The engine driver was helpless as it was not possible for him to stop the engine suddenly. He blew the whistle as hard as he could, but the engine rolled over the little girl. The older sister clasped her face with her trembling hands and cried bitterly. The passengers too panicked at the thought of the sight they would have to witness. The guard ran down to the end of the train to see what happened to the little girl. When the train passed, everybody saw her lying very still between the tracks with her face down.

Then she raised her head, sprang to her knees and began gathering the remaining mushrooms.

The big sister ran towards her, tears streaming down her face. They hugged and kissed each other, crying out of happiness, tears of joy flowing down their little cheeks. Never were two souls so happily united as at that moment. She promised her little sister that thereafter she would hold her hand tightly while crossing the railway line.

The two sisters then picked all the remaining mushrooms, and hand in hand, solemnly walked back home. They were indeed two souls who had become wiser than their years, in the span of a few minutes.

Beautiful Garden

The story is told of a nobleman who had a lovely floral garden. The gardener who tended it took great pains to make the estate a veritable paradise. One morning he went into the garden to inspect his favorite flowers. To his dismay he discovered that one of his choice beauties had been cut from its stem. Soon he saw that the most magnificent flowers from each bed were missing. Filled with anxiety and anger, he hurried to his fellow employees and demanded, "Who stole my treasures?"

One of his helpers replied, "The nobleman came into his garden this morning, picked those flowers himself, and took them into his house. I guess he wanted to enjoy their beauty." The gardener then realized that he had no reason to be concerned because it was perfectly right for his master to pick some of his own prize blossoms.

Asking Not, Expecting Not

Our Daily Bread, June 4, 1997

Imagine what a heavy schedule of appointments President Abraham Lincoln had to keep day after day. Yet when an elderly woman with no official business in mind asked to see him, he graciously consented.

As she entered Lincoln's office, he rose to greet her and asked how he might be of service. She replied that she had not come to ask a favor. She had heard that the President liked a certain kind of cookie, so she had baked some for him and brought them to his office.

With tears in his eyes, Lincoln responded, "You are the very first person who has ever come into my office asking not, expecting not, but rather bringing me a gift. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Ronald Reagan and Clapping

Ronald Reagan was a favorite of mine. He served as President as, hopefully, most of you know, and also before he was President, he was Governor of California. He was Governor of California from 1967 to 1975. Ronald Reagan shares a story about going to Mexico City when he was Governor of California. And he gave a speech, and there was a big crowd. And after he finished with his speech, it just didn't go very well, and it was a very unenthusiastic little kind of clap like that when he was done. And he's like,

"Man..." And he thought did I do that bad' Is it just a rough crowd' What is it' Well, he went to sit down on the platform, and the guy that got up after him, man; he showed him it wasn't a bad crowd because he was slaying the crowd.

They were just clapping and cheering. And he was speaking in Spanish and Ronald Reagan didn't understand anything he said. He felt embarrassed and awkward. And he thought, You know, this is going to be weird. So he said, "Well, I'm just going to start clapping, too, and I'll clap longer and louder and first and then they'll know that, hey, I'm okay with who I am. And just because they didn't clap for me, that's okay. I'm still going to clap. And so he was doing it, clapping first, and clapping longest, and clapping loudest.

Finally, somebody leaned over to him and said, "Hey, I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, "That man's interpreting your speech" (laughter). A little embarrassing!

Remember Dorothy

At an ordination service several years ago, the minister who gave the ordination sermon urged the one who was being ordained to “Remember Dorothy.” No one knew what he was talking about, including the one being ordained.

The minister told a story about a woman who was in nursing school. One day the Professor came in and said those seven words students hate to hear, “We’re going to have a pop quiz.” She made it through the quiz until she got to the last question. It read, “What is the name of the woman who cleans the school?”
 

You’re going to meet a lot of people when you get out in the field of medicine. You may be tempted to treat them as diseases instead of as people. But each one is important and each one has a name. And by the way, her name is Dorothy.” There are a lot of Dorothy’s out there and in here. If we are going to fulfill God’s purposes as God’s servants (which is what a deacon and all Christians are supposed to be), we need to love people which require at least a little bit of knowledge about who our members are and what their needs are. The more we know them, the more we can love them.

I challenge our newly elected and newly ordained deacons to get to know our folks better so that they can be the best they can be. And I challenge the rest of us to do the same.

Poverty and Unbelief

On the corner of Park Row and Beekman Street, New York City, where Horace Greeley’s Statue now stands, stood a man offering $20 gold pieces for $1 each. All day he kept up loudly announcing his wares, but of the thousands that passed him, most paid no attention and others either laughed or scowled at him.

About 15 minutes before six o’clock, when he was about to quit, a woman timidly approached him and, after carefully investigating the gold piece, by biting it and testing its sound, but throwing it on the pavement, she reluctantly paid the dollar and pocketed the golden double eagle. Ten minutes later, just as the man was about to go home, the woman reappeared accompanied by two friends and between them they purchased the rest of the man’s stock, worth $160, for $8 in bills.

The next and for several following mornings, the street was crowded for blocks with the same woman in the lead waiting for the vender of gold coins, but he never appeared again.

This story is known to be true and Horace Greeley is responsible for the incident in demonstration of his theory that most poverty is due to the fact that the general public refuses to believe even in the face of overwhelming evidence and there is the point.

Is that a perfect example of many people in America today? Many who come to church would probably fall into this category. But God does not call us to unbelief He calls us to believe. Faith and unbelief can not live together they do not mix.

Try doing this sometime. Take an empty 2-Liter bottle, and fill it up half way with just plain water, and the other half fill up with vegetable oil. Then try shaking that bottle up and mixing those two things together. What’s going to happen? Well, you can shake that bottle all day, but as soon as you stop shaking it, the oil and the water are going to separate from each other in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. Why? Back in 11th Grade Chemistry Class you learned that oil and water are “polar opposites” of each other. These two substances have a totally different chemical make-up from each other, which makes it impossible for them to mix together. Polar opposites just don’t mix.

what we’re going to focus on this morning are the polar opposites in this story. We are going to study the characters and see a number of things that just don’t mix very well inside a person: 1. Faith & Unbelief 2. Humility & Pride.

When you are tempted to doubt God’s promises, remember that 2-Liter bottle with oil and water not mixing. Neither can your doubt mix with faith! Get rid of it, and have a simple, strong trust that God is going to work everything out. Remember that 2-Liter bottle when you are tempted to think of yourself as an important person. Pride sure doesn’t mix very well with humility.

Good Friend

Back in the 1980’s Sam Rayburn - Speaker for the House of Representatives - learned that one of his friends had just lost his teenage daughter. 

 

Early the next morning Rayburn knocked on his door and said, “I just came by to see what I could do to help.” 

 

The father replied that there was nothing to do. “Well,” Rayburn said, “have you had your coffee this morning?” 

 

The man replied that they had not taken time for breakfast. So Rayburn went to work in the kitchen. While he working on making breakfast, his friend came in, and said, “Mr. Speaker, I thought you were supposed to be having breakfast at the White House this morning.” “Well, I was, but I called the President and told him I had a friend who was in trouble and I couldn’t come.”

This is great example of true friend is all about. He is willing to rearrange his schedule no matter how important it might be to help a friend out that is need.

Judge and the Defence Lawyer

I once read about in one of Richard Wurmbrand’s books.

“An elder of a local free Church in Communist Romania was brought before the judge for embezzlement - a crime he had not committed.

His defense lawyer started his defense plea by telling the Court of a well known story about the man that was circulating around the village.

One day, the man had been attacked while he was taking the church collection home to bank the next day and the thieves made off with all the money.

Fearing for the eternal souls of the thieves, the elder called after them,

“ You haven’t stolen the church collection, which I have at home, you have only taken my money and I give it to you freely.”

The Judge stopped the defense lawyer and said: “You don’t seriously believe that nonsense do you?”

The defense lawyer replied: “No”

“Then why are you bringing it up in my court” the judge growled.

The defense lawyer replied: “My Lord, if someone had tried to start a rumor like that about you or me, it would never have got off the ground.

The very fact that this rumor could even get off the ground is a testimony to my client’s character.”

That’s the same sort of character that Jesus wants his followers to have.

God is concerned about what is on the inside of us and not on the externals.

Spreading Love

Norman Vincent Peale wrote this:

"Ralston Young carries bags for a living but his real job is living the spirit of Christ as a porter in one of the world's greatest railway stations.

One day he was asked to take a little old lady to her train.

She was in a wheel chair so he took her down on the elevator.

As he wheeled her into the elevator, he noticed there were tears in her eyes.

Ralston Young stood there as the elevator descended, closed his eyes and asked the Lord how he could help her and the Lord give him an idea.

As he wheeled her off the elevator he said with a smile "Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying so, that is a mighty pretty hat you are wearing."

She looked at him and said "Thank you"

"And may I add" he said "that sure is a pretty dress you have on. I like it so much".

Being a woman this appealed to her, and despite the fact she wasn't feeling well, she brightened up and asked "Why in the world did you say those nice things to me?"

"Well" he said "I saw how unhappy you were. I saw you were crying and I just asked the Lord how I could help you. The Lord said 'Speak to her about the hat'. The mention of the dress he added was my own idea."

"Don't you feel well?" he asked.

"No" she replied "I am constantly in pain". I am never free from it. Sometimes I can't stand it. Do you, by any chance, know what it is like to be in pain all the time?"

Ralston had an answer: "Yes Ma'am, I do for I lost an eye and it hurts like a hot iron day and night."

"But you seem so happy now. How did you accomplish it?"

"Just by prayer ma'am, just by prayer."

She asked "Does prayer, just prayer take the pain away?"

"Well" replied Ralston "perhaps it doesn't always take it away. I can't say it does, but it always helps to overcome it so it doesn't seem like it burns so much. Just keep on praying, ma'am and I'll pray for you too."

Her tears were dried now and she looked up at him with a lovely smile, took him by the hand and said

"You've done me so much good".

A year passed and one night at Grand Central station Ralston Young was paged to come to the Information Booth.

A young woman was there who said: "I bring you a message from the dead. Before she died my mother told me to find you and to tell you how much you helped her last year when she took the train in her wheelchair. She will always remember you, even in eternity. She will remember you for you were so kind and loving and understanding"

Then the young woman burst into tears and sobbed in her grief.

Ralston stood quietly watching her. Then he said "Don't cry missy, don't cry. You shouldn't cry. Give a prayer of thanksgiving".

Surprised the girl said "Why should I give a prayer of thanksgiving?"

"Because" said Ralston "many people have become orphans much younger than you. You had your mother for a long, long time, and besides you still have her. You will see her again......."

Peale concludes by saying:

"Ralston's kindness had the same effect on the daughter as it had on her mother. In this huge station, with thousands of people passing by, the two of them felt the presence of (the) one who inspired this wonderful porter to go around this way, spreading love."

("The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale p.84-86).

A Friend in Good and in Bad Times

Contributed by Rev. Martin Dale

Some years ago, I attended a conference called “Spring Harvest at Work” in Sheffield (in November 1998).

And what was memorable for me was that the conference organizers sprang a surprise interviewee on us – Jim Bakker- an outcast in the Evangelical community.

Indeed he was such an outcast that they didn’t even dare advertise that he was going to be interviewed until the day itself.

Let me just give you a little of the background to Jim Bakker’s story:

From 1987 to 1990, the ministry of television evangelists (popularly referred to in the press as “televangelists) was brought into disrepute by the revelation of a string of frauds, mismanagement of funds and infidelities.

The first scandal to break and probably the most infamous - was that of Jim and Tammy Bakker followed by the fall of Jimmy Swaggart.

In 1986, the income of Baaker’s ministry was $129 million.

But then Jim Bakker had an affair with the church secretary Jessica Hahn in 1980 and resigned in 1987, when it came to light that he had paid her about $265,000 in blackmail money over the affair.

With his resignation, Bakker asked Jerry Falwell to take over and, when Falwell began examining the accounts, he discovered that the Bakkers had been illegally taking large amounts of money from the ministry fund.

Falwell called the US Inland Revenue Service in and when they investigated the accounts they discovered that the couple had diverted $4.8 million for personal use.

Jim Bakker was indicted for fraud in 1988, was given a 45 year prison sentence and fined $500,000.

When the scandal broke, Bakker's Christian friends quickly deserted him.

He became an outcast in the Christian world.

And when he was sentenced, his wife Tammy Faye left him too and then divorced him.

That evening at “Spring Harvest at Work”, Jim Bakker told us a little known story of his time in prison:

Six months into his sentence, he was surprised one afternoon when the prison governor called him into his office. Bakker had a visitor: Billy Graham.

When Graham came in, Bakker asked him why he had come to visit because he knew that any association with Bakker would tarnish Graham's reputation.

Billy Graham replied that Bakker was his friend in good and in bad times and now when things were bad, he would stand by his side.

And Billy Graham was true to his word.

Bakker's sentence was eventually reduced, on appeal, to ten years and when he came out of prison on parole, he had nowhere to stay.

So the Grahams invited him to stay with them.

On the Sunday following Baaker's release, Ruth Graham took him to church with her.

Disregarding what people would think about her, she stood up in church and introduced Jim Bakker to the congregation as her friend, Jim Bakker.

THE STORY OF THE GIPPER

It was halftime of the 1928 Army vs. Notre Dame Game that legendary head coach Knute Rockne gave his "win one for the Gipper" speech to his beleaguered players.

Notre Dame was having one of its worst seasons on record and Rockne was trying to salvage what he could of the season. He told his players about the tragic death of George Gipp, a great Notre Dame player.

Many historians doubt that Rockne's version of Gipp's last words was true. None the less, Notre Dame did win the game against Army that memorable day.

This speech became ingrained in popular culture after its recreation in the 1940 movie, Knute Rockne--All American, which starred a then known B actor, Ronald Reagan.

The phrase "Win one for the Gipper" became a permanent fixture in American society. Here is the transcript of the dialogue from the movie...

Well, boys ... I haven't a thing to say. Played a great game...all of you. Great game, I guess we just can't expect to win ‘em all. I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years -- None of you ever knew George Gipp. It was long before your time, but you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame...And the last thing he said to me -- "Rock," he said, "sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper...I don't know where I'll be then, Rock", he said - "but I'll know about it - and I'll be happy."

(There was a hushed stillness as Rockne and the crowd of boys look at each other. and the midst of this tense silence, one of the boys loudly shouted!)

Well, what are we waiting for?

And with a single roar, the players throw off their blankets and rush through the doorway, went out and won the game!

That phrase the Gipper from the movie, followed a then, little known actor Ronald Reagan all of his life and went on to inspire a nation.

How parents religious habits affect children

Researchers from Switzerland examined whether parents’ religious habits were transmitted to their offspring.

They studied different variables, but one critical factor towered above the rest:

the practices of the father determine whether children grow up attending church or not.

And the results were somewhat shocking: the habits of the mother had almost no influence over their kids’ future devotion.

Consider these findings:

....When Mom goes to church regularly but Dad goes infrequently,

just 3 percent of their kids go on to become regular churchgoers.

....When Mom is regular but Dad never attends, just 2 percent become regular attendees.

Now, let’s flip the scenario, what if Dad is faithful?

When both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 33 percent of kids grow up to attend regularly.

When Dad is regular but Mom only goes once in a while, the figure jumps to 38 percent.

Here’s the real bombshell: when Dad is faithful but Mom never attends,

44 percent of the kids end up as regular church attendees!

Bottom line: in spiritual matters, kids take their cues from Dad.

If daddy doesn’t go to church, chances are very slim that his children will become regular worshippers.

If the kids see religion as "Mom’s thing" they are more likely to become disenchanted.

But if Dad leads by example, children are twenty-two times more likely to become lifelong churchgoers

Are there exceptions, everyone knows there are always exceptions to every rule.

I stand here today as an exception, one of the 2 Percent group. I also credit a praying mother, who stood on and received the promise of her household, from God! It didn't happen in her lifetime, but never the less happened, and God kept His Word!

It's no wonder why churches all over the globe are closing their doors, and are dropping in attendance.

Dads aren't going, so why should the children. Fathers are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of their households. If we're ever going to see revival in our church's, it's going to have to first start in our homes!

God has a plan for each one of our lives and He constantly gives us, every opportunity to walk in the plans that He has for us!

Pull Buddy Pull

Pull, Buddy, pull By Guy Glass

A guy drives into a ditch, but luckily, a farmer is there to help. He hitches his horse, Buddy, up to the car and yells, "Pull, Nellie, pull!" Buddy doesn’t move.

"Pull, Buster, pull!" Buddy doesn’t budge.

"Pull, Coco, pull!" Nothing.

Then the farmer says, "Pull, Buddy, pull!" And the horse drags the car out of the ditch.

Curious, the motorist asks the farmer why he kept calling his horse by the wrong name. "Buddy’s blind," said the farmer. "And if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try."

I can remember my dad, pulling me out of a few ditches in my life. Some of them were literal ditches, and some of them had different names.

I can remember, my dad would call and the first thing he would say would be, "Dad here" at the time I would think of course you're there, and I'm here. But over the years, I came to realize that, when he said those words...it gave me comfort, knowing I could call anytime and he would come running to help me, no matter what the need was!

I could sense his presence was there, even though physically he wasn't.

So many fathers nowadays, aren't that way.

The Government Already Has!

The Government already has! By Scott Chambers

The Lord spoke to Noah and said, “Noah in six months I am going to make it rain until the whole world is covered with water and all the evil things are destroyed. But, I want to save a few good people and two of every living thing on the planet. So I want you to build an ark.”

Well, six months passed, the sky began to cloud up, and the rain began to fall in torrents. The Lord looked down and saw Noah sitting in his yard, weeping, and there was no ark.

"Noah!” shouted the Lord, “Where is My ark?” “Lord please forgive me!” begged Noah. “I did my best but there were some problems --- big problems. First, I had to get a building permit for the ark’s construction, but Your plans did not meet their building code. So, I had to hire an engineer to redo the plans, only to get into a long argument with him about whether to include a fire-sprinkler system.”

Then "My neighbors started complaining and objected, claiming that I was violating zoning ordinances by building the ark in my front yard, because it was killing the dandelions and going to block their view --- so I had to get a variance from the city planning board.

Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists and the Fish and Game Commission that I needed the wood to save the owls, but they wouldn’t let me catch them, so NO OWLS.”

“Next I started gathering up the animals but got sued by an animal rights group that objected to my taking along only two of each kind; they wanted me to save them all. Then the Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed flood plain. So I sent them a globe! The IRS has seized all my assets claiming that I am trying to leave the country, and I just got notice from the state that I owe some kind of usage tax. Really, I don’t think I can finish the ark in less than five years.”

With that, the sky cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled. “You mean You are not going to destroy the world?” he asked hopefully. “No,” said the Lord, “I am too late, the government already has.”

In God We Trust...

God's Laws will not Change

When Astronaut, Allen Shepherd was preparing to make his first space flight, He was in a news conference and a reporter asked him

It was a legitimate question – the reporter asked,

“Mr. Shepherd, what are you depending on in this flight?”

Now, I’m sure that the reporter didn’t mean the question the way Allen Shepherd answered it –

but it was asked never-the-less in a way that prompted Allen Shepherd to say, (and it’s a classic) he said,

“I’m depending on the fact that God’s laws will not change.”

When you’re getting ready to go into space…

and when your survival and your return to earth…

depends upon all of these laws that God put into place… and staying in place while you’re up there…

It’s pretty important to trust in the fact,

To depend upon the fact – with your life – that God’s laws will not change

Lasting Ffruitfulness

Donald Grey Barnhouse cites an amazing example of lasting fruitfulness. In Hampton Court near London, there is a grapevine under glass; it is about 1,000 years old and has but one root which is at least two feet thick.

Some of the branches are 200 feet long. Because of skillful cutting and pruning, the vine produces several tons of grapes each year. Even though some of the smaller branches are 200 feet from the main stem, they bear much fruit because they are joined to the vine and allow the life of the vine to flow through them.

Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. And when we need pruning, the goal is always more fruit

Abraham Lincoln's prayer

A visitor to the White House when Lincoln was president was with Lincoln for three weeks as his guest. One night, soon after the Battle of Bull Run, this visitor could not sleep.

Suddenly he heard a low voice proceeding from the room where the president slept. He got up and walked toward the door, which was partly open. Then he saw the president kneeling before an open Bible.

The light was turned low, and the president's back was to the door; he did not know that he was being overheard. In piteous and solemn tones the president was praying: "Thou God that heard Solomon in the night when he prayed and cried for wisdom, hear me!

I cannot lead this people. I cannot guide the affairs of this nation without Thy help. I am poor and weak...O God, Thou didst hear Solomon when he cried for wisdom--hear me and save this nation." - Choice Illustrations, W.W. Clay pg 57-58

At the right place at the right time

At the right place at the right time

I read the story of a fisherman named Larry Shaw, who was testing an outboard propeller on a lake in Ohio a few years ago. There, in a cove, he spotted a gigantic muskellunge fish near the surface. Shaw motored toward it and unsuccessfully cast out his line several times before the fish disappeared.

A half hour later, Shaw returned to the cove where he had first spotted the big muskie. It was back! Shaw turned on the electric trolling motor and headed toward the beast. As he crept closer, the massive fish suddenly started swimming directly toward the boat. Shaw quickly put on a leather glove and plunged his arm into the water, grabbing the fish behind the gills. That old fish started thrashing and twisting, but he finally wrestled the monster into the boat. The muskie weighed in at over 53 pounds.

When asked about his prize fish, Shaw shrugged and said, “I was at the right place at the right time—and was fool enough to grab it.”

That’s the same attitude we should have in fishing for people. Being at the right place at the right time—and being “fool enough” to take a risk—to tell your story—to share the word of life.

Then step back and watch God work.

THE SNAKE AND THE SAW

*THE SNAKE AND THE SAW*

A snake penetrated into a carpentry workshop.  As it slipped, it passed over a saw and got slightly wounded. Suddenly, it turned and bit the saw, and biting the saw, the snake seriously got wounded in its mouth! 

Then not understanding what was happening and thinking that the saw was attacking "him," _it decided to roll around the saw to suffocate it with all its body by squeezing it with all its strength, but it ended up being killed by the saw!!!_ 

Sometimes we react in anger to hurt those who have harmed us, but we realize later that after all *we are hurting ourselves.*

*_In life it is better sometimes to ignore situations, ignore people, ignore their behavior, their words._*

*Sometimes it is better not to react* so as not to suffer consequences that can sometimes be deadly or harmful.

*Do not let hate take over your life* because love is stronger than anything.

*Keep Smiling and Spread Happiness.....*

 

 

*LAWS OF NATURE*

.... The food we eat, has to be digested and then thrown out of body in 24 hours, else we will fall ill.

.... The water we drink, gets in our body and is thrown out in 4 hours, else we will fall ill.

.... The air we breathe, has to be thrown out in 1 minute, else we will die.

What about negative emotions like hatred, anger, jealousy, insecurity ... we hold in our body for days, months and years.

If these negative emotions are not thrown out regularly it props up into psycho-somatic diseases.

And prayers and meditation are safest ways to dissolve these emotions.