There is this well known Christian joke about the pious man crossing a river. The boat overturned and this man who could not swim was drowning in the water. He desperately prayed to God to save him. A boat came by and the boatman threw him a line. But the man refused to grasp the rope saying that God will save him. When the boatman tried to pull him up with his hands, the drowning man again refused, claiming that God will save him. Of course, he drowned. His soul went up to Heaven and he asked God why had not God saved him? After all, had he not been faithful to God? God replied that He had sent the boatman to save him but he had refused to be saved!
Well, have a look at another story, a Chinese one. A poor man saved a fox. One night in his shed he heard a knocking at the door. He opened the door to find a beautiful girl, who wanted to work for him. The girl also became his mistress. Then one day the girl told him she had to go. However, she had left a number of dumplings in the kitchen as a farewell gift. The poor man thought he could sell the dumplings to make money. Alas, the girl reappeared at his door. The girl told him that she was the fox fairy whom he had saved long time ago and she had came to repay his kindness. She told him that she had left gold ingots within the dumplings, which the man had sold off. She then told him that despite his kindness he was not destined to hold gold. So she directly gave him a basket of silver.
- The Chinese proverb is,"Heaven may throw down the immortal jujube, but you still have to open your mouth to swallow it."
It is like the Western proverb, "Opportunity knocks at the door" - but you still have to open the door.
So, Luck is something where you may have to work at it. Those who are too lazy will have less luck than those who are more hardworking.
The degree of hardwork or industry can be affected by Feng Shui or astrology.
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