A poor young man was helpless, homeless and hopeless. He lost his job
and had no one to help him. Depressed and dejected, he decided to commit
suicide. He collected all the coins he had with him and bought from a shop a
ripe banana wrapped in an old newspaper. He opened the packet and started to
eat his last food when an old beggar approached him. With trembling lips, the
beggar told him that he has not had anything to eat for several days and was
too weak to walk. The young man felt pity and gave the banana to the beggar. He
ate it with great joy and thanked him. While leaving, the beggar gave him a
very old coin, saying, "Thank you very much. You gave me everything you
had. Kindly accept this coin as my humble gift."
When the old man
departed, he carelessly glanced at the piece of
paper used to wrap the fruit. There he saw an advertisement from an
agency dealing with old coins. Any one possessing old coins was invited to
visit the agency and receive suitable price for their old coins on the spot.
Out of simple curiosity, he carried the coin to the agency, which was quite
close to him. He showed the coin gifted by the beggar. The person managing the
agency stared at it and exclaimed in excitement, "What a surprise! It is
very rare and several centuries old. It is worth a fortune!" He was given
a hefty sum of money as the price of the rare coin. Jumping with joy on
receiving the unexpected amount of money, he searched everywhere to find the
old man who gifted him the coin. He wanted to share his joy and the money with
the beggar. But he could not find the beggar anywhere. On the way he saw a
church. He had abandoned all religious practices for months. But now he entered
the church and thanked God for His generous gifts. He started a new life with
renewed hope and enthusiasm.
Kindness cannot be
given away. It always comes back!
William Wordsworth
wrote, "The best portion of a good
life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love."
Guy King said, "The greatest thing a man can do for
his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children."
Jesus Christ taught, "I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty
and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes,
naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you
visited me.....I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important
of these brothers of mine, you did it for me!" ..................................................................................................................
© By Dr. Babu
Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts
Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former
Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S. John and Neil John,
Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507,
Kerala, India.
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