Saturday, July 21, 2001
Dear Friends:
I thought this was a remarkable story
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BEING POOR
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip
to the country with the firm
purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a
couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered
a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How
was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they
have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our
garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the
front yard and they have the
whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they
have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve
us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have
friends to protect them.
With this the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, dad, for showing me how poor we
are."
Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we
don't have. What is one's person's worthless object is another's
prize possession. It is all based on one's perspective. Makes you
wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty
we have instead of worrying about wanting more.
Take joy and appreciate every single thing you have, especially
your family and friends.
