The Son

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I have a favor to ask. I have a friend that I’d like to bring home with me.”

“Sure,” they replied, “We’d love to meet him.”

“There’s somethng you should know;” the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go and I want him to come live with us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can find him somewhere to live.”

“No, Mom and 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, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. They were told that their son had died after falling from a building. 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 are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good looking or fun to be 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 that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

Tonight, before you tuck yourself in, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understandig of those who are different from us.

There is a miracle called friendship that dwells in the heart. You don’t know how it happens or when it gets started, but you know the special lift it always brings; you realize that friendship is God’s most precious gift. Friends are a rare jewel indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear; they share a word of praise; they always want to open their hearts. Show your friends how much you care.

photo courtesy of Stacey N. Jones,
http://www.faraway-soclose.org