Thursday, October 30, 2008

Not Leaving Heartprints

I am afraid that if we have the encourage to be real, then the following story, though might be fiction could very well be non-fiction. Life as we know it is not like the sun will always rise in the East. There are lots of exceptions to the ideals we believe in. For our life-spans here, good do not always triumph over evil and neither is justice always served.

You need to bring with you faith when you read this story. You need to believe that even as this story ends, a most unhappy ending, the truth is that it has not ended yet. It is just not yet complete and there is no consensus among us breathing mortals on how it will really end.

In the end good will triumph over evil but not necessarily in our lifetimes.

So here is the story of someone who seems to have triumphed without leaving heartprints. Again, I have this story here only to make this blog real to life as lived by the majority of us.

Toward the end of Sunday service, the Minister asked,

'How many of you have forgiven your enemies?

' 80% held up their hands.

The Minister then repeated his question. All responded this time, except one small elderly lady. 'Mrs. Neely?';

'Are you not willing to forgive your enemies?' I don't have any.' She replied, smiling sweetly.

'Mrs. Neely, that is very unusual. How old are you?' 'Ninety-eight.' she replied.

'Oh, Mrs. Neely, would you please come down in front & tell us all how a person can live ninety-eight years & not have an enemy in the world?'

The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle, faced the congregation, and said:

"I outlived the bitches!"


I almost wanted to boldface the last line, but why should I? I know by faith that is a losing line!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The most important part of your body

Here is a story my friend Lorraine in Canada sent me recently.

My mother used to ask me what the most important part of the body is.
Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct
Answer.

When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans,
so I said, 'My ears, Mommy.'

She said, 'No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and
I will ask you again soon.'

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first
attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer.

So this time I told her, 'Mommy, sight is very important to everybody,
so it must be our eyes.'

She looked at me and told me, 'You are learning fast, but the answer is
not correct because there are many people who are blind.'

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years,

Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was, 'No. But
you are getting smarter every year, my child.'

Then one year, my grandfather died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was
crying. Even my father cried.


I remember that especially because it was only the second time I saw him
cry.

My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to my
Grandfather. She asked me, 'Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?'
I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a
game between her and me.

She saw the confusion on my face and told me, 'This question is very
important. It shows that you have really lived in your life. For every
body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have
given you an example why.

But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson.'
She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes well up with
tears. She said, 'My dear, the most important body part is your
shoulder.'

I asked, 'Is it because it holds up my head?'

She replied, 'No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a
loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime
in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that
you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it.'

Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one.
It is made for others and not for yourself. It is sympathetic to the
pain of others.

People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did . But
people will NEVER forget how you made them feel.

Good friends are like stars...You don't always see them, but you always
know they are there.

You know because you have often left heartprints on each other before.