Life in The Family International

WHO IS RICH?

One day a wealthy man sent his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people can be. The boy spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family.

When he got home, his father asked him, “How was the trip?”

“Very good, Dad!”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Yeah!”

“And what did you learn?”

The son answered, “I saw that we have a dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that’s endless! We have lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have a field in front of their house that looks like it goes all the way to the edge of the earth.”

When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless. His son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!”

Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have that you wouldn’t sell for money.

THE CRIPPLE

I once knew a boy the same age as I
Who was a friend to all he met
His words were optimistic and kind
And what he said, I shall never forget.
You see, he was crippled in body
Crutches carried him around everywhere
Yet this handicap did not prevent
His happiness from penetrating the air.
I approached him one day and asked quietly,
“How did you become crippled so?”
He smiled at me and answered the question:
“Infantile paralysis, you know.”
“Oh”, I replied, “but with your misfortune,
How can you find strength to carry on?
How can you face the world so cheerfully
Without feeling that you’ve been done wrong?
I think it to be incredible
That you’ve cultivated such an art!”
“It’s like this, you see,” he smiled at me,
“The disease never touched my heart.”

–Nyx Martinez

Nyx is a vounteer Missionary Member of The Family International. Her missions have taken her through South East Asia, India, East Africa and South Africa. She currently runs charity projects for terminally-ill, indigent children in The Philippines and is also a child-education consultant, youth counsellor, freelance writer for TV, radio, magazines, a voice-talent, illustrator, artist, Events Host and Music Marketer. She is the eldest of 13 siblings, and a Taurean who enjoys spicy food, open-bar nights, long baths, photographing people, and throwing festive parties. Dislikes: Whiny women, bratty children, spoiled men. More about Nyx

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 at 11:02 am and is filed under Family Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.