A sad story! But worth thinking..
This is a story about a soldier who returned home from
Vietnam War.
He phoned his parents once he arrived in San
Francisco.
Mom, Dad. I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I
have a friend
I'd like to bring home with me."
Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."
"There's something you should know", the son
continued,
"He was hurt pretty bad in the war.
He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg.
He has no where to go,
and I want him to come and live with us."
"I'm sorry to hear that, son.
Maybe we can find somewhere for him."
"No! Mom, Dad, I want him to live with us.""Son," said
the father, "you
don't know what you're asking.
Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible
burden on us.
We have our own lives to live, and we can't let
something like this
interfere with our lives. I think you should just come
home and forget
about this guy.He'll find a way to live on his own."
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents
heard nothing
more from him.
A few days later, they received a call from the San
Francisco police.
Their son had died after falling from a building, they
were told.
The police believed it was suicide.
The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and
were taken to the
city morgue to identify the body of their son. They
recognized him,
but to their horror they also discovered something
they didn't know, their
son had only one arm and one leg.
The parents in this story, like many of us, find it
easy to love those who
are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't
like people who
inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We
would rather stay away
from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart
as we are.
Thankfully, there is someone who won't treat us in that
way.
Someone who loves us with an unconditional love.
Can you think of anyone who loves you unconditionally?
And can you love another unconditionally?
