Our oldest forwarded this to me and somehow it resonated:
What is the difference between the rich and the poor?
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."
Things in Upstate NY
4 hours ago
12 comments:
Nice parable. I like it alot
Okay, threecollie,
Ask yourself: "How many times can I make W. J. get all misty-eyed, today?"
The answer? Twice!
Your rich/poor parable warmed me up to a nice level of blinky-eyed mistiness, than you moved in for the teary kill with your Barbaro comments!
I plan three Saturdays a year around the Triple Crown, and was comfortably settled on my couch to watch The Preakness. My stomach just flipped when I saw what was happening. I'm crossing my fingers against bad news. Let's hope medical technology does its thing!
P.S., do you, by chance, know anthing about the cows I've posted recently? They have brindle (mostly brownish) markings, and irregular white masks. Any idea what they are?
Wonderful! Obviously penned by a poor country person....
Npanth, thanks for stopping by
WJ, we think they are crossbreds, may brahman and long horn or simmental. Can't be sure about beef breeds; there are a lot of them. That is a pretty neat picture of them!
Hi,NW, good to "see" you. I had a big mistake last week that almost required your expertise, but the boss found it. Dang! I could have used a visit, just for the visiting part!
Thanks, threecollie! The response that you left over at Art166 is classic, especially the "unlikely" wordplay! Do you mind if I quote you in a blog post, later this week?
And, please thank the rest of your 'voting committee' for me!
WJ,
You are more than welcome, and I would be honored. Quote anything you would like.
Thank-you so much for this parable. I just happened upon your blog for the first time and found the most moving thing I've read all week. This is the most important lesson I've tried to instill in my children.
Thanks, Cav, wish I could take credit, but this is something one of our daughter's college friends sent her, she forwarded it to me, and it was too good to delete. Thanks for visiting.
Sometimes we forget . . .
here is another good one
Subject: Lets have coffee!!!!!!!
Mayonnaise Jar & 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into
the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full . . . They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous . . . "YES!" The professor then produced two cups of black, liquid coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the space and saturating the sand. The students laughed. " Now," . . said the professor, as the laughter subsided . . . " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things . . . God, family, children, health, friends, and things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter . . . like your job, house, and car, things that make your life fulfilled. The sand is everything else . . . the small stuff." " If you put the sand into the jar first,”. . He continued . . . " there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, the sand, you will never have room for the things that are important to you."
" So . . Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness . . play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first . . the things that really matter. Set your priorities . . . the rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled . " I'm glad you asked . . . it just goes to show you that no matter
how full your life may seem . . .there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
Please share this with someone you care about.
I JUST DID.
Montana Farmer, that is a real good one and one that I hadn't seen before. Thanks for stopping by.
Nice story, I like it. I bet the rich city people had less bugs though...all ours are driving me NUTS this year!
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