Top 5 Spiritual Short Stories In English

Confess Your Sins And Be Purified

A Catholic priest was once questioned about the significance of making confessions. The priest told a story to explain its importance. 

He went on to say, People who regularly scoff at confession make me think of the story of Jonathan Swift’s servant. After spending the night at an inn, Swift asked for his boots in the morning and saw them brought in covered in dust. 

Why didn’t you clean them? he asked his servant. I thought there was no point said the servant. After a few miles on the road, they’ll be covered in dust

again, no matter what I do.” “Quite right, now go and get the horses ready, we are leaving.” Soon afterward, the horses came out of the stable, and Swift was ready for the journey. 

“But, we can’t leave without breakfast!” cried the servant. “There’s no point,” replied Swift, “after a few miles on the road you’ll be hungry once again!”

QUESTIONS

1. What did the priest try to convey through this story?

2. What is the implication of this story?

ANSWERS

1. People generally think that it is a futile attempt to confess our sins to a priest as we may fall prey to sin again. This story conveys the message that frequent confession would purify the soul.

2. Confession not only takes away the dust of sin but also gives us a special strength to avoid it, and makes firmer our friendship with God.

Live Before Death

There was a public meeting organized in a village. All questions at the public meeting that day were about life beyond the grave.

The Master sitting in one corner of the meeting only laughed when everyone else argued, but he did not give a single answer. 

To all his disciples who demanded to know the reason for his evasiveness, he said, Have you observed that it is precisely those who do not know what to do with this life who want another life that will be last forever?

But is there life after death or not? persisted a disciple.

The master asked a counter-question that stunned everyone around.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the counter-question by the Master?

2. What is the implication of this story?

ANSWERS

1. The Master merely questioned back,

The question here is, is there life before death?

2. No one has seen life after death. Therefore, there is no point in arguing whether there is life after death or not. 

What is certain is that we have to live our life before death. Live productively and creatively. Live your life with the intent to serve other human beings in one form or another.

Everyone Is A Potential Genius

Once upon a time, a man found an abandoned eagle’s egg and with the fear that it might break, placed it under a brooding hen. 

The eaglet hatched with the chickens and grew among other chickens. The eaglet-chicken clucked and cocked, scratched the earth for worms, and flapped its wings to fly a few feet in the air like other chicken. 

Years passed and it spent its whole life being a chicken. One day, it spotted a magnificent bird glide above its head in graceful majesty with scarcely a movement of its golden wings. “That’s the

king of the birds, the eagle, said the mother hen. “He belongs to the sky, and we belong to the earth.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the response of the eaglet- chicken?

2. What is the implication of this story?

ANSWERS

1. The eaglet-chicken said, “How I wish that I could fly!” But it never made an attempt to fly in the air, though it was capable of doing it.

2. Everyone has the potential to achieve something great and outstanding. But our beliefs about ourselves fix the limitation of our achievements. 

Every individual estimate himself and that basic estimate goes far towards determining what he can become. You can do no more than what you believe you can.

Accept Your Ignorance With Humility

The celebrated Duval, the librarian of Francis I, was considered a very learned person. One day, an egoistic person, jealous of the  librarian asked him many impertinent questions to which Duval replied, “I don’t know.” 

Annoyed by this, the man snapped at him and said, “Why Sir, you ought to know! The Emperor pays you for your knowledge.”

To this question, Duval answered…

QUESTIONS

1. What were Duval’s answers?

2. What is the implication of  this story

?

ANSWERS

1. Duval answered, “The Emperor pays me for what I know.

If he were to pay me for what I  don’t know, even the treasures of  the entire empire would not be sufficient.”

2. The realization that there is so much to learn would only make a person

learn more and more.

Remember Things Through Association

One chronically forgetful instructor at a college was known as an absent-minded professor. One day, one of his students found his car key on the lid of a cake box inside the departmental refrigerator. 

The student took the keys and dangled them in front of the instructor. On seeing this, the instructor insisted that the keys be put back right where the student had found them.

“But, how will you remember them?”

questioned the student.

The instructor replied…

QUESTIONS

1. What was the instructor’s reply?

2. What is the implication of this story?

ANSWERS

1. It’s not the keys I’m worried about, he replied. It’s my wife’s birthday cake. Unless the car keys are on it, I’ll forget to take it.

2. Three factors contribute to effective memory. They are — interest, emotions, and association. The instructor applied the principle of association.

 While going home, he had to go by car, for which he would definitely search for the keys. He knew that he had kept them in the refrigerator. 

While taking the keys, he would easily remember to take the cake for his wife. In this way, we may be able to remember many things by creating our own associations.

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