A modern day parable - keep the faith and drop the fear
It was the last line of this modern day parable …
“The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling, and even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it” … that got my attention. We were in Tampa visiting Margaret’s brother Ray who is dying of cancer. His wife was shared a portion of a 3-page letter that their son had written to Ray. In the letter Ben shared the story of the day, when Ben was younger, that Ray had taken him to work. Ben noticed how everyone lit up when Ray walked in. Ray simply changed the atmosphere of the office. Everyone was glad to see him and was happy to have him in the office. Ray simply caused everybody to
smile. What a great testimony … what a great memory to hold on to … what a great example for a son to follow. Wouldn’t it be tremendous if that could be said of all of us.
And, now today’s modern parable:
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the
hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."
Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?
Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to
smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.
The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling, and even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!
