During my
second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a
pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed
through the questions, until I read the last one:
"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the
school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired
and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed
in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before
class ended, one student asked if the last question would
count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely,"
said the professor. "In your careers you will meet
many people. All are significant. They deserve your
attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say
'hello'". I've never forgotten that lesson. I also
learned her name was Dorothy.
One night, at 11:30 PM, an older
African-American woman was standing on the side of an
Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm.
Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a
ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man
stopped to help her-generally unheard of in those
conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped
her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She
seemed to be in a big hurry! She wrote down his address,
thanked him and drove away. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant
combination console color TV and record player were
delivered to his home. A special note was attached.
The note read: Dear Mr.
James: Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes
but my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I
was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just
before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and
unselfishly serving others. Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King
Cole.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much
less, a 10-year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front
of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?"
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little
boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a
number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain
ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now
waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely. The
little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the
plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the
ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away.
The boy finished the
ice cream, paid the cashier and departed. When the
waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and
then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly
beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies
- her tip.
In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on
a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's
wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply
walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not
keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about
getting the big stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came
along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the
boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to
move the stone to the side of the road. After much
pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a
purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The
purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king
indicating that the gold was for the person who removed
the boulder from the roadway.
The peasant learned
what many others never understand. Every obstacle
presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at
Stanford Hospital I got to know a little girl named Liza
who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her
only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her five-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had developed
the antibodies needed to combat the illness.
The doctor explained
the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if
he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I
saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep
breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save
Liza." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed
next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the
color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale
and his smile faded.
He looked up at the
doctor and asked with a trembling voice. "Will I
start to die right away?" Being young, the boy had
misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have
to give her all his blood.
A friend
of mine named Paul received an automobile from his
brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when
Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking
around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your
car, Mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for
Christmas."
The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave
it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I
wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he
was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a
brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all
the way down to his heels. "I wish," the boy
went on, "that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively
he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my
automobile?"
"Oh yes, I'd love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes
aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in
front of my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad
wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could
ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again.
"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the
boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while
Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast.
He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him
down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against
him and pointed to the car.
"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs.
His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't
cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just
like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty
things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to
tell you about."
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his
car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him
and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he
had said: "It is more blessed to give..."
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