During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, “I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If tails, we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal itself.”
He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious. After the battle, a lieutenant remarked to the general, “No one can change destiny.”
“Quite right,” the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Eric 10.30.09 at 11:55 am
I wonder how often we approach God with our same-sided coins and shut out the blessings God wants to shower on those open to giving God the options of differing-sided coins.
Michelle 10.30.09 at 3:30 pm
Eric -
That is a powerful image for me – thanks! How often do we tell God exactly how to do his job?!
Maura 10.31.09 at 8:33 am
Saddly my reaction to this story are far less spiritual and far more concrete. While I understand it is intended to inspire. There are far too many times when we are like the soldiers fed a half truth to push us into an activity that those in authority believe is right but which may not in fact be. The wars in Iraq and Afganistan come to my mind but there are every day situations too. I wonder if we (who work for and represent the church) are sometimes like that general minipulating people into activities we think are best for them. Should we not be more like God and allow people to use their gift of free will.
Eric 10.31.09 at 11:04 am
Maura,
I agree with you. I was uncomfortable with the fact that the story was about war and about a leader manipulating his followers to fight. When I made my comment I tried to ignore that the story was about war.
Marg 11.01.09 at 8:25 am
I have a little different take on this one. To me the focus was the toss of the coin, and the idea of approaching life with a positive attitude. If we pray with confidence in only the idea of the right outcome, regardless if it is our exact request or something else, isn’t it the same as having a two headed coin?
The the example of war used in the story hits too close to home for most of us. These are difficult, sad times. So, I focused on the coin and how it could apply to prayer and the outcome of prayer.
M.
Paul 11.03.09 at 1:18 pm
Eric, Michelle, Maura & Marg,
Thanks for engaging the topic of this story so thoroughly. I understand why Maura reacts the way she does, but the story is told to make the point that when we believe we can do something, we can achieve it.
Would you criticize Jesus for some of the parables he told? Maybe you would!
Paul