THE NEED TO PAY THE PRICE

At the airport, there was an automatic weighing machine. By inserting one rupee, it printed a ticket showing a person’s weight.

A child stood on it with a one-rupee coin. He dropped the coin into the slot. After a clicking sound, a card appeared with his weight printed on it.

The child found it amusing, like a game. He asked his parents for more coins. He repeated it again and again. Each time, a card came out. Eventually, his parents ran out of one-rupee coins. They only had a fifty-paisa coin left. The child put it in. The machine clicked, but no card came out. When nothing appeared, the child began to cry.

The young child couldn’t understand why. But in reality, it wasn’t a matter for tears, but for learning. In its silent way, the machine gave an important lesson: everything has a price. If you don’t pay the full price, you won’t get what you want—even if you pay something less.

This law applies both in this world and in the hereafter. In both, a person can only get something by paying the full price according to the rule. Whoever refuses to pay cannot expect to receive what he desires.

This principle of paying the price is an unchanging law. Neither wishful thinking can alter it, nor can it be set aside through protest or complaint.