A SOLDIER'S STORY
Prof. Bholanath Dutta
Founder & President- MTC Global?I World Bank Quality Assurance Expert (2016-18)I Author of 21 Best Selling Books I Startup India Champion Mentor I MoC AIM/ATL Niti Aayog
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 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 badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind 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 help him find 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. 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.
Moral: The parents in this story are like many of us. We 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’s 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 for the night, 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 understanding of those who are different from us!
Counselling Psychologist and Consultant for managing cases related to employee grievances
5 年Congrats Nirmala.
Editor-in-Chief at Electronic Journal of Social and Strategic Studies
5 年Sorry to correct. Order Arms means 'rest your weapon'. For salutation, it is "Present Arms". Jai Hind.
Editor-in-Chief at Electronic Journal of Social and Strategic Studies
5 年Happy 73rd Independence Day to you and all members of your family. Today, we must remember the sacrifices our freedom fighters made to obtain our independence; we must also remember with gratitude the supreme sacrifices of hundreds of men in uniform to defend our freedom; we must resolve to do what we can, in whatsoever manner, to preserve this freedom. Resolve to do small little things that will make a difference to something in this country. For example, do not waste food. Get and eat only what you can eat. When you leave/waste food in your plate, remember that people are still dying of hunger in this country. Jai Hind.