Here is an editorial originally published in our Blair paper. I will link to the original if/when they post it online.
What is the difference between rich and poor people? That is an awesome perspective!
Take, for example, the story about the father of a very wealthy family who took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.
The two 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?”
The son replied, “It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yea,” 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.”
The son continued, “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.”
The father stood in amazement as the son continued by saying, “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 and 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.”
Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have instead of worrying about what we don’t have.
I guess it boils down to the fact that we need to appreciate every single thing we have – especially our friends!
Perhaps this will help us refresh our perspective and appreciation. Life is too short and friends are too few.
(Originally published in “The Enterprise”, Sept. 23, 2005 by Kenneth Rhoades.)