MATTHEW 25:40
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Verily, I say unto you, that in as much as
you have done it unto one of these, the least of my brothers, you have
done it unto me
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If this doesn't
touch your heart,
you might want
to check to see if you still have one.
'Some
people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery
store.
'You would
think the manager would pay attention and open another line, 'said a woman.
I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a
well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit
card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting
it.
'It's one of them
welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else,'
said the man standing behind me. The young woman turned around to
see who had made the comment. 'It was me,' he said, pointing
to himself.
The young
lady's face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped
the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the store.
Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her car.
Never looking back, she got in and drove away.
After developing
cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I had learned never to
judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances of their life. This turned
out to be the case today.
Several
minutes later a young man walked into the store. He went up to the cashier
and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her, the cashier
told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove
away.
'Why would
she do that?' asked the man. Everyone in the line looked around at the
fellow who had made the statement. 'I made a stupid comment
about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn't have
said. I'm sorry,' said the man.
'Well,
that's bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in Afghanistan
two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that responsibility.
She's twenty years old, single, and now has three children to support,'
he said in a very firm voice.
'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he replied, shaking both his hands
about.
The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?' pointing to the shopping cart
full of groceries. 'It wouldn't take her card,' the clerk told him.
'Do
you know where she lives?' asked the man who had made the comment.
'Yes, she goes to our church.'
'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way to the front of the line. He pulled
out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier, 'Please
use my card. PLEASE!' The clerk took his credit card and began to
ring up the young woman's groceries.
‘Hold on!' exclaimed the gentleman. He walked back to his shopping cart
and began loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included. 'Come
on people. We got three kids to help raise!' he told everyone in line.
Everyone began
to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few customers began
bagging the food and placing it into separate carts. 'Go back and get two
big turkeys,' yelled a heavyset woman, as she looked at the man.
'NO!' yelled the man. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The
entire store became
quiet for several seconds. 'Four
turkeys,' yelled the man, ‘make that FOUR turkeys!!!.’
Everyone began
laughing and went back to work. When all was said and done, the man
paid a total of $1,646.57 for the groceries. He then walked over
to the side, pulled out his check book, and began writing a check
using the bags of dog food piled near the front of the store for a writing
surface. He turned around and handed the check to the young man.
'She will need a freezer and a few other things as well,' he told the man.
The
young man looked at the check and said, 'This is really very generous of
you.'
'No,'
said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.'
Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to
clap. And I drove home that day feeling very American.
We live in
the Land of the free, because of the Brave!!!
Remember our
Troops of Yesterday and Today!!!
A great
example of why we should be kind and patient. Kindness is the language
the blind can see and the deaf can hear.
May
God's many blessings continue to be with you - ALWAYS!!
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A
Thought For Today:
Relationships of
trust depend on our willing- ness to look not only to our own interests,
but also the interests of others."
--Peter Farquharson
July
4th
Sermon
A sermon recorded July 4th
By: Al Bieser, D.Div.
(The downloading
may take 2 or 3 minutes depending on your software.)
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