Skip to main content

Rich Man, Poor Man...

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" 

"It was great, Dad." 
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. 
"Oh yeah," said the son. 
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. 
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool and they have a creek that has no end. We have lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. 
We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." 
The boy's father was speechless. 
Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
 

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Contact

“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe….   Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not.   Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?

Speech

  “To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.”     John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent.  Life teaches many lessons.  Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied.  Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.    

The Price of Misjudgment

“If a man does not judge himself, all things judge him, and all things become messengers of God.” – Nachman of Bratslav ”If I do not accept responsibility for the evil I do, the very earth will rise up to judge and condemn me. The stars, the trees in the wind will provide sentence…”   -Julius Lester