By Francis J. Kong
(The Philippine Star) Updated November 05, 2011
Let me share this powerful story with you.
Bob Weber, former president of Kiwanis International, had been the
special guest speaker of a Kiwanis club gathering in a small town and
was spending the night with a farmer member on the outskirts of the
community.
He had just relaxed on the front porch when a newsboy
delivered the evening paper. The boy noted the sign
“Puppies for Sale”.
The boy got off his bike and said to the farmer, “How much do you want
for the pups, Mister?”
“Twenty-five dollars, Son.”
The boy’s face dropped. “Well, Sir, could I at least see them anyway?”
The farmer whistled and in a moment the mother dog
came bounding around the corner of the house followed by four cute
puppies, wagging their tails and yipping happily. And then a fifth pup
came straggling around the house, dragging one hind leg.
“What’s the matter with that puppy, Mister?” the boy asked.
“Well, Son, that puppy is crippled. We took her to the vet, and had
the doctor X-ray her. The pup doesn’t have a hip joint and that leg will
never be right.”
To the amazement of both men, the boy dropped the bike, reached for
his collection bag and took out a fifty-cent piece. “Please, Mister,”
the boy pleaded, “I want to buy that pup. I’ll pay you fifty cents every
week until the twenty-five dollars is paid. Honest I will, Mister.”
The farmer replied, “But, Son, you don’t seem to understand.
That pup will never, never be able to run or jump. That pup is going to
be a cripple forever. Why in the world would you want such a useless pup
as that?”
The boy paused for a moment, then reached down and pulled up his pant
leg, exposing that all-too-familiar iron brace and the leather
knee-strap holding a poor twisted leg. The boy answered, “Mister, that
pup is going to need someone who understands him to help him in life!”
Have you gone through a very debilitating experience, maybe an episode of your life so painful you can still feel the pain? I know I have. In such experiences, people usually ask:
“Why?”
“Why are they doing this to me?”
“What did I do to deserve this?”
“Why me?”
Fast forward to where you and I are today. With eyes of faith and
gratitude, I now know why God allowed me to go through such painful
experiences – so that I can share what I’ve learned from it, and comfort
and encourage those going through a similar experience today. Because
one can go to the best counselor in the world or visit the most
articulate minister, but he will never get the same quality advice from
someone who has gone through what he’s going through at the moment.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon says, “Those who wear the shoe know best where
it pinches.”
What is compassion? Compassion is simply the willingness to share the
pain and the suffering of someone who’s going through tough times.
You know. Now, go and tell others!
No comments:
Post a Comment