One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him 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.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, 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."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
I don't know who wrote this or I would give them credit. I read this earlier, and two thoughts came to my mind. 1) "Out of the mouth of babes". That phrase gets used to much, but it is so true. Most children are not marred by hate and prejudice. They are able to see the world in its true beauty. 2.) I thought, please let me be poor. If being poor allows me to have fresh air, freedom to roam in fields and streams and the ability to help others...then let me be poor.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
Amen, my sister.
What a beautiful story. :)
That is a nice story.
Is that what they call "perspective?"
It's really true. Great Story.
Children definitely see things in a different way. Recently my 5 year old daughter's teacher showed her a picture of what heaven supposedly looks like. I have no idea what the picture contained, as my daughter summed it up thusly:
"Daddy, I know what shape heaven is."
"Really? What shape is heaven?"
"It's square."
I've seen this one before, but a reminder about the important things in life is never a bad thing. Thanks for the story, this morning, Barb!
So true.
I find myself reading this on with a sense of irony. I went to the Red Cross today to do my usual volunteer work. At the end of the month my area Red Cross is having a free CPR Saturday with several classes throughout the area.
As I was entering people into the computer for these classes one of the workers told me that she knew about 50% of the people who were signing up and about 90% of them were rich.
This is supposed to be an outreach program to the community and for people who couldn't normally afford to take the class and yet people who can afford to pay are taking up space. Too bad they don't have that kid's attitude.
It's all in the attitude...
Finally finished my bartending blues. Behind Blue Eyes left a comment for you.
wow! While I was on vacation I went to one place that was very poor in the worlds view - but let me tell you they had something that we will never have and this story hits it on the head!
Kiddo, I love you. Thanks for your comment.
It's so true..
Post a Comment