A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming
home from the war. 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!!!
