Gilbert K. Chesterton
 |
| Source: Photo Pin |
A woman who was getting ready to jump off a 44 story building in New York City. Witnesses said that she did not look like the type of person who would do such a thing. All the attempts made by the police to get the woman off the ledge had failed. One of the officers asked if he could call his pastor in to see if he could help. When the pastor arrived, he asked permission to go to the ledge and talk to the woman. As the pastor neared the edge the woman screamed, "Don't come any closer or I'll jump!" The pastor took a step back and then said, "I am sorry that you believe no one loves you." This got the woman's attention and it got the attention of the police. That was something that you don't usually say to a person who is threatening suicide. The woman took a step towards the pastor and said, "My grandchildren love me and so do my children. My whole family loves me! I have 8 wonderful grandchildren and they love me." The pastor took a step towards the woman and said, "Well then, you must be very poor, maybe that is why you want to take your own life." The woman who was a little overweight said, "Do I look like I go without any meals? We live in a very nice apartment. I'm not poor."
The pastor took another step closer to her and was now 3 feet from her when he asked, "Then why do you want to kill yourself? I don't understand." The woman thought for a moment and then said, "You know, I don't really remember." The story ends with the pastor and the woman walking towards the elevator as she shows him pictures of her grandchildren. Eventually this woman becomes a volunteer on the city's suicide hotline, helping others choose life. What did the pastor do to help this woman? He helped her get her eyes off herself and onto the many ways that God had blessed her. She learned a valuable lesson that day. She learned that thankful people are happy people. If you don't learn anything else today, I hope you learn this valuable lesson. Thankful people are happy people.
If your happiness is anchored on happenings around you, you might as well write your own obituary because I can assure you that the world will inundate you with so much negative stuff, enough to drown you in the waves of one bad experience to another , until happiness completely eludes you and your face becomes like the Book of Lamentation.
Truth be told, for you to be thankful, you must be thoughtful. In the face of the menacing storms of life, we must learn to take time to reflect, not over the seemingly uncountable things that are not going well with us, but rather on the many other good things that God has bestowed upon our lives , many of which stuff are not on display on the shelves of any supermarket. In other words, let us count our blessings and not discount the goodness in our lives. It was Gilbert K. Chesterton that said, "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder".
No comments:
Post a Comment