| TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY - WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
DECEMBER 2008
It seems that the only news these days is bad news with the state of the economy and all. Perhaps as the festive season approaches we should reflect upon whether maybe the credit crunch is a wake up call; that perhaps we have all become a little too obsessed with materialism and have focused on what we all want rather than what we need. Advertising would have us all believe that Christmas is about imbibing, over indulgence and the receipt of gifts. Perhaps there are those who have lost sight of our humanity and that to pick up the telephone and speak to our fellow man or woman is perchance better than a text or an electronic message. I am not going to be too cheesy about this, but whether we have faith or not and for those who do, whatever their religion, the teachings of His son ain’t a bad code by which to live.
Whoever you are reading this – best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
The story
His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.
There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.'
'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.
'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.
'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.
Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name?
Sir Winston Churchill.
And so there we have it. How a simple act of kindness can change the World. What would the World have been like but for these two men and two boys? Some may call it a coincidence, but then the history books are full of similar stories, way out of any proportion to mathematical odds of such things happening.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around. SO
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
May there always be work for your hands to do
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
And may you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead.
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