Gratitude

There was, one day, a woman and her toddler son walking down the beach, enjoying the beautiful, sunny day as the waves rolled in, and back. They built sand castles with large walls around them and turrets standing tall. And then, as they began to walk hand in hand once again, there was an enormous wave that came crashing over them. The son was washed right out of her hands, and the mother found herself, as the wave receded, kneeling along on the sandy beach.

She began to scream and sob. And then, turning her head to the sky and lifting her hands into the air, she called out, “Please! Please! If anyone up there can hear me, I have lost my darling son! Please, I BEG of you! Please, bring him back to me!”

She looked out at the sea and saw that the sun’s rays had broken through the cloud cover, beaming light down to the surface of the water. At a great distance there flew an albatross and, as it entered the beam of light, it dove down into the water. When it emerged, the young son was riding on its back! Up it flew into the air, and landed gently down on the sandy beach beside the child’s mother.

The mother scooped up her son and the albatross flew away. She held him in tears of joy and then finally held him at arm’s length, looking him up and down to check for injuries. Then she looked up at the sky with scorn and said, “He had a HAT!”

Source: DeerhornShamanic.com