The Soldier
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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 got a favor to ask. I have
a friend I'd like to bring 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 an 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!!!
Author Unknown
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