Find the Nugget of Truth

One day, Jim came to his front door to see cow manure, piled 3 feet high on his front porch. Repulsed by the smell, he wondered who in the world would spread dung just outside his home. While trying to figure this out, and becoming more upset by the second, he heard the phone ring. It was an anonymous caller, asking Jim if he had noticed anything different outside. When Jim tried to find out from the caller why he had done this (making the assumption) and who he was, the caller refused to be named: "Oh, it wasn't me. I just wanted you to know that the pile of manure on your front porch is for your own good." Jim played along: "Oh, yeah? How is that?"

"Well, the man continued, somewhere in that pile of manure, is a nugget of truth, a piece of wisdom, that will help you improve your life. The people who put the pile there did it because they love you." And with that, the man hung up. Jim stood there stunned. "What kind of people, who claim to love me, would pile manure at my front door?" But, even with his feelings of being "dumped on" and feeling far from loved, he decided to hope for the best.

So, he put on some old clothes that he planned on burning after this expedition; and then "dove in". As he dug through the manure, he tried to convince himself that this was going to be worth it. He thought: "Perhaps this is some sort of TV show or friends just playing with me. Maybe, in the middle of this "stuff" is a real gold nugget, or some type of treasure map or a winning lottery ticket." It was the only things Jim could think to keep himself from fainting from the smell, burning with anger at whomever placed this here, or feeling like a complete fool for believing the anonymous caller.

But, Jim stuck with it, and after an hour of searching, he found what seemed to be a piece of paper, about the size of note found inside a fortune cookie. But, this was no fortune cookie! And, although the piece of paper may have contained an incredible nugget of truth, it was no longer readable. Jim spent hours trying to figure out what this nugget of truth was, what it said; but because of the manure, in which this truth was delivered, it lost all of its effectiveness; and in the end, had no positive effect on Jim's life whatsoever.

Jim wondered why people who claimed to love him, would try to give him truth to help his life, by hiding it in a pile of wretched, smelling, destructive (at least in this context) manure. Jim went to bed that night feeling his day had been wasted; but he did learn one thing. Well, maybe he learned a few things: not to listen to anonymous callers; believing that those who truly loved him would deliver truth, even difficult truth in a more loving way; and the next time someone spread manure all over his property, he should call the authorities.

So, after all of that, perhaps he did gather some "nuggets" of truth.
The end.