I recieved this recently and thought I would share it with you.
Tony Barr
The Barr Foundation
www.oandp.com/barr
> Touching
>
>
> 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 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!!!
>
> Author Unknown
>
