While waiting for a train in India, a missionary got into a conversation with a high-caste Indian. "Are you travelling on the next train?" the missionary asked. "No," he replied, "that train has only third-class carriages. It's all right for you, because you are a Christian. Third class doesn't degrade you and first class doesn't exalt you. You are above these distinctions, but I have to observe them."
A nature lover found a lovely avenue of trees. As he walked admiringly up and down the avenue, he noticed a strange thing. Two of the trees were dead, and not only dead, but dismally and evilly offensive. Frost could not account for it as their neighbours were all healthy. He made inquiries, and found out that the gas main which ran underneath them had been leaking! Everything on the surface had been in their favour - the sea breezes, sunshine, rain ... but they had been poisoned from beneath. There are many people like that. Perhaps we are one of them. The circumstances of our lives all seem in our favour. Yet beneath that our lives are mysteriously blighted by thoughts that poisoned us.
An old Italian gentleman lived alone in New Jersey . He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament. A few days later he received a letter from his son: ‘Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried. At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son: ‘Dear Papa, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.’
A father, trying to encourage his teenage son after he had failed an examination, said, "Don’t give up, try again." "What's the use?" said the son. "It's easier to quit." His father remonstrated with him, saying, "The people who are remembered in life are the people who, when they failed, didn't give up, but tried again." He went on, "Remember Churchill? Remember Thomas Edison? They didn't give up!" The boy nodded. His father went on, "Remember John McCringle?" "Who is John McCringle?" the boy asked. "You see," said the father, "you don't remember him - he gave up." A poster showed a picture of a man sitting on a park bench looking depressed and disconsolate. His arms were folded across his chest, and there was a look of resignation on his face. The caption read, "I give up."
A nature lover found a lovely avenue of trees. As he walked admiringly up and down the avenue, he noticed a strange thing. Two of the trees were dead, and not only dead, but dismally and evilly offensive. Frost could not account for it as their neighbours were all healthy. He made inquiries, and found out that the gas main which ran underneath them had been leaking! Everything on the surface had been in their favour - the sea breezes, sunshine, rain ... but they had been poisoned from beneath. There are many people like that. Perhaps we are one of them. The circumstances of our lives all seem in our favour. Yet beneath that our lives are mysteriously blighted by thoughts that poisoned us.
An old Italian gentleman lived alone in New Jersey . He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament. A few days later he received a letter from his son: ‘Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried. At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son: ‘Dear Papa, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.’
A father, trying to encourage his teenage son after he had failed an examination, said, "Don’t give up, try again." "What's the use?" said the son. "It's easier to quit." His father remonstrated with him, saying, "The people who are remembered in life are the people who, when they failed, didn't give up, but tried again." He went on, "Remember Churchill? Remember Thomas Edison? They didn't give up!" The boy nodded. His father went on, "Remember John McCringle?" "Who is John McCringle?" the boy asked. "You see," said the father, "you don't remember him - he gave up." A poster showed a picture of a man sitting on a park bench looking depressed and disconsolate. His arms were folded across his chest, and there was a look of resignation on his face. The caption read, "I give up."
