LETTING GO OF RESENTMENTS

A story tells of a merchant in a small town who had identical
twin sons. The boys worked for their father in the department
store he owned and, when he died, they took over the store.

Everything went well until the day a dollar bill disappeared. One
of the brothers had left the bill on the cash register and walked
outside with a customer. When he returned, the money was gone.

He asked his brother, "Did you see that dollar bill on the cash
register=3F" His brother replied that he had not. But the young man
kept probing and questioning. He would not let it alone. "Dollar
bills just don't get up and walk away! Surely you must have seen
it!" There was subtle accusation in his voice. Tempers began to
rise. Resentment set in. Before long, a deep and bitter chasm
divided the young men. They refused to speak. They finally
decided they could no longer work together and a dividing wall
was built down the center of the store. For twenty years
hostility and bitterness grew, spreading to their families and to
the community.

Then one day a man in an automobile licensed in another state
stopped in front of the store. He walked in and asked the clerk,
"How long have you been here=3F"

The clerk replied that he'd been there all his life. The customer
said, "I must share something with you. Twenty years ago I was
'riding the rails' and came into this town in a boxcar. I hadn't
eaten for three days. I came into this store from the back door
and saw a dollar bill on the cash register. I put it in my pocket
and walked out. All these years I
haven't been able to forget that. I know it wasn't much money,
but I had to come back and ask your forgiveness."

The stranger was amazed to see tears well up in the eyes of this
middle-aged man. "Would you please go next door and tell that
same story to the man in the store=3F" he said. Then the man was
even more amazed to see two middle-aged men, who looked very much
alike, embracing each other and weeping together in the front of
the store.

After twenty years, the brokenness was mended. The wall of
resentment that divided them came down.

It is so often the little things -- like resentments -- that
finally divide people. And the solution, of course, is to let
them go. There is really nothing particularly profound about it.
But for fulfilling and lasting relationships, letting them go is
a must. Refuse to carry around bitterness and you may be
surprised at how much energy you have left for building bonds
with those you love.