Judge
me by the footprints I leave behind
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 me 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 mind 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!!!
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