A young priest was always sad. He was good at his profession, but he still had no joy. He visited a group of wise monks.
When he got to the monks’ house, they greeted him and let him in. The monks asked the priest, “What is the matter?” The priest said, “ I should be happy, but I am not. I don’t know what to do.” The wise monks paused for a minute. Then one said, “We are convinced of your faith. You are a very good priest. But to find joy, you have to do more. Above all, investigate the elements of your life that you love.” The priest thought that this answer was odd, but he was curious.
The next day, the priest thought about his abilities. He got a few ideas, and he did not want to delay any longer. He liked to draw, so he made some cartoons. He also liked to write, so he started a diary. He was interested in agriculture, so he planted some grains. He made jam from berries. He made his own labels to put on the jars of jam. He painted his ceiling. The priest learned something. It is not too hard to be happy after all. All one has to do is find things they like doing, and do them!
KeyWords
ability
Ability is the quality of a person being able to do something well.
His swimming abilities let him cross the entire lake.
agriculture
Agriculture is the growing of food and animals.
The farmer studied agriculture in college.
cartoon
A cartoon is a funny drawing.
Sometimes, people draw cartoons for the newspaper.
ceiling
The ceiling is the top of a room.
He painted the ceiling with a special roller.
convince
To convince someone means to make them sure of something.
She convinced me to buy the house.
curious
When you are curious about something, you want to know more about it,
I opened up the clock because I was curious about how it worked.
delay
To delay means to wait to do something.
I was delayed at the airport for over two hours.
diary
A diary is a book in which people write their personal experiences.
I do not let anybody read my diary.
element
An element of something is a particular part of it.
Tackling an opponent is Johnny’s favorite element of American footbal
faith
When people have faith in something, they believe in it and trust it.
The sick girl had faith in doctors. She knew they would make herbettet
gram
Grain is food crops such as wheat, corn, rice or oats.
The farmer planted two fields of grain this year.
greet
To greet someone means to meet and welcome them.
When my friend came over, I greeted him at the door.
investigate
To investigate means to search for something or learn about it.
The detective went to investigate the crime.
joy
Joy is a feeling you get when you are really happy.
I love baseball. I feel joy when I play.
label
A label is a tag that tells about something.
The label on the back of your shirt will tell you what size it is.
monk
A monk is a religious person who lives a simple life.
The monks knew a lot about religion.
odd
When something is odd, it is unusual.
Her cat is odd. It walks on two feet.
pause
To pause means to stop doing something for a while.
Since she was so hungry, she paused to make a snack.
priest
A priest is a person trained to perform religious duties.
The priest taught us about God.
profession
A profession is a person’s job.
He loved sailing, so he chose to work on ships as a profession.
