One day there was this village woman carrying an earthen vessel on top of her head walking on a dusty dirt road on her way home. She wasn’t walking in stride so as not to get tired too soon for her early afternoon journey.
The city she just left behind started to move into the trees as the road made a right turn on the way to the village. But her barrio is yet to appear on the vast rice fields ahead of her. This her weekly journey to the city is a three-hour walk under the blistering sun. She was grateful for the mild breeze that is blowing opposite her journey.
Amidst the rustling of the bamboo trees on the roadside the woman glanced back to see a farmer riding on a wooden cart with some harvest; and she saw he will eventually get past her.
As the beast that pulls the cart was about to overtake her, the man invited her to join him so she could sit and rest her feet in the cart among the rice sacks and other harvests. The woman obliged and without saying a word climbed up on the back of the cart with the help of the man. Then the cow, upon the man’s bidding restarted the travel; and the barrio is still several miles away.
From time to time, the man and the woman talked with each other; the man minding the beast in front of him as he speaks, his back on the woman. He told her he was from another town and is just passing by her village; all the time not looking at her. The woman told him she brought some woven cloth to the city market and is on her way home.
After an hour and with the barrio approaching on the horizon, the man finally glanced back on the woman to ask her about her destination. To his surprise he saw the woman still has her large pot atop her head. She was sitting on the cart’s bamboo floor alright but she did not put her pot down. The man finds it amusing but looked away and managed not to let the woman be insulted in any way. He also wasn’t able to ask his question. He just looked ahead and thought of something to say.
But when he gathered some strength to ask her, he said,
“Why don’t you put down your burden so you can truly rest?”
The woman replied,
“Oh, I can still manage the pot. There’s my house; I’ll get off here. Thank you for the ride.”
The farmer halted the cart and helped the woman get off. The man muttered something to himself and continued on.
Cast all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you. ~1Pet.5:7
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My bad. I linked the image I used here, the “Village Woman” but I did not recheck if it was properly linked. My apologies to sris.com I found out the link doesn’t work. I’m sure many of my readers would appreciate if they could find their way to the site where it came from.
Here it is, folks. Click Here.
And for the actual image: http://srisarts.com/?s=village+woman
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