There once was a man

whose shovel was missing.

He looked everywhere for it,

but it was not to be found.

Someone stole it, he thought..

He suspected the boy next door.

Afer all, he looked like a thief.

He talked like a thief.

He even walked like a thief.

Several weeks went by

and the man’s dislike for the boy grew.

Then one day he found his shovel.

It was under a shrub

where he had laid it

while working in his garden.

The next morning he saw the boy

as he was leaving for the day.

The man talked with the boy briefly.

How strange, the man thought.

The boy looked so different.

He looked like such a nice young lad.

He talked like such a nice young lad.

He even walked like a nice young lad.

When the man returned to his garden

He noticed a note placed on his shovel.

It read,

”When you are busy judging others

you have little time to love them.”

Thereafter, every time the man used his shovel

he thought about the message in the note.

And his life changed.