In his book, "The ten laws of leadership," Bill Newman has told this same
story. Instead of Vietnam, he speaks of the Korean war. Instead of San
Francisco, he speaks of San Diego. What makes the story quite
interesting and perhaps classic, is its focus on developing an attitude
of acceptance, regardless of what. That is, if one considers one to be a
friend. Conditional acceptance destroys people. I hope this is another
learning lesson.
Thanks Uncle Ben...
On Thu, 11 Mar 1999 07:39:44 -0600 "Weller, Ben"
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>Folks, I forward the following from a brother as food for thought.
>-------
>A story is told . . . about a soldier who was finally coming home
>after
>having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.
>"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a
>friend I'd
>like to bring home with me." "Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet
>him."
>"There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was hurt
>pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an
>arm and
>a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with
>us."
>"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere
>to
>live." "No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."
>"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone
>with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our
>own
>lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with
>our
>lives. I
>think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll
>find
>a way to live on his own."
>
>At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing
>more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from
>the San
>Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building,
>they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The
>grief-stricken
>parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to
>identify
>the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they
>also
>discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and
>one
>leg.
>
>The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to
>love
>those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like
>people
>who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather
>stay
>away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we
>are.
>Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who
>loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever
>family, regardless of how messed up we are.
>
>Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little
>prayer
>that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they
>are,
>and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different
>from
>us!!!
>There's a miracle called Friendship that dwells in the heart. You
>don't
>know how it happens or when it gets started, but you know the special
>lift
>it always brings and you realize that Friendship is God's most
>precious
>gift!
>
>Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make us smile and
>encourage
>us to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and
>they
>always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much
>you
>care....
>Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to
>you,
>then you'll know you have a friend for life.
>
> Bro. Jimar J. William Wilson
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
``````````````
"It takes in reality only one to make a quarrel. It is useless for the
sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism, while the wolf
remains of a different opinion."
William Ralph Inge, Outspoken Essays, 1999
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