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There is an Oriental story of two brothers, Ahmed and Omar. Each wished to perform a deed whose memory should not fail, but which, as the years rolled on, might sound his name and praise far abroad. Omar, with wedge and rope, lifted a great obelisk on its base, carving its form in beautiful devices, and sculpturing many a strange inscription on its sides. He left it to stand in the hot desert to cope with its gales – his life’s monument. But Ahmed, with deeper wisdom, and truer though sadder heart, digged a well to cheer the sandy waste, and planted about it tall date palms to make cool shade for the thirsty pilgrim, and to shake down fruit for his hunger.
These two deeds illustrate two different ways in which we may live. We may think of self and worldly success and fame, living to gather a fortune or to make a name splendid. Or we may make our life like a well in the desert, with cool shade about it, to give drink to the thirsty, and shelter and refreshment to the weary and faint.