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WITandWISDOM(tm) - November 30, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Greatness is not so much a certain size as a certain quality in your life. - Phillips Brooks Source: Inspire, http://www.inspirelist.com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: I heard of a little lad named Kenny who developed leukemia. The disease progressed rapidly. Soon he was unable to go to school, then unable to go out at all, and finally confined to his bed. One day he asked the question his mother had most feared hearing. "Mother," he said, "what is it like to die?" Though she'd steeled herself for that moment, she couldn't handle it when it came, so she excused herself and went out of the room. And there in the bathroom she prayed, her knuckles as white as the porcelain in the sink top. Then, guided by God's Spirit, I believe, she went back into the bedroom and said, "Kenny, you remember how when you were a very little fellow you sometimes would fall asleep in my bed? And how the next morning, when you would waken, you would find yourself in your own bed and in your own room? Do you know how that happened? That happened because while you were sleeping, your big brother came, or your father came, and he lifted you up and carried you so gently to your own bed and to your own room. That, Kenny, is what death is like." The youngster smiled, for he understood. A few weeks later he fell asleep, and while he slept, his elder Brother and ours, his Father and ours, came and lifted him up and took him off to his own room and to his own bed. By Bruce Thielemann, "Christus Imperator," Preaching Today, Tape 55 Source: A Dose of Inspiration, http://www.quietstones.com/mydailydose ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: In 1970, when I first developed M.S. symptoms, I lived in Shillington, near Reading, Pennsylvania. My employer's fear of chronic illness ended my career, but I still coordinated the cook and the housekeeper, drove my car and did my own shopping when I could. There was a little market near home. The first time I went there, my balance and dexterity were affected and I dropped a can, which rolled across the floor. I had considerable trouble retrieving it, dropping it several times in my struggle. Once I had the can firmly in hand, I couldn't get up from my knees! One of the bagboys helped me. I continued shopping but when it came time to check out, the lines were pretty long. Well, wouldn't you know it, I lost my balance and those racks of candy and gum always placed near the check out lines were knocked off on the floor -- candy and gum scattering and rolling everywhere! I tried to pick it up, but kept losing my balance and dropping or spilling them again and again. Seeing my distress, the owner/manager helped me up, got me through the checkout line and bagged my groceries. He took my car keys and drove my car right up to the door and loaded everything into the trunk for me! I was so pleased that I returned again and again to that store. Always, someone was there to help me. As I pushed the cart, and looked at an item, things appeared in it as if by magic. My helper checked me through the line immediately and always helped me to the car - often bringing the car up to the door for me. Some years later I moved 10 miles away but I continued to come back to the same store regardless of the long drive. I always felt special there because of their help and courtesy. I told lots of friends about the little market but no one reported the special treatment and made me feel almost as if I was making up a story. But over at least 12 - 15 years I'd enjoyed shopping there. About that time my teenaged daughter began to date a young man from town. I heard them laughing in the other room and she called me, saying, "Mom! You've got to hear this!" The young man (I've forgotten his name after all these years) was beet red with embarrassment, spluttering: "No, don't tell your mother! Please, don't!" She told me anyway, and much to his relief I fell to the floor laughing till the tears ran down my cheeks! It seems that he'd just gotten a job at the little market where I liked to shop. Recently I'd been in and he was stocking shelves when the manager came over and said to him: "See that lady over there? No matter what you are doing, leave it. Help her. Open a new cash register. Take her groceries out of the cart. Help her to the car or bring the car to the door." "Why all the special care?" he asked his manager. "Son, she's the town drunk and we want her in and out of here as fast as possible. Submitted by R P Cly ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: While working at Walt Disney World as a Magic Kingdom custodian, I was responsible for emptying the trash cans in front of the castle. One afternoon as I dumped out a refuse container, I heard a small girl ask her mother, "Who's that lady?" "Why, honey," her mom replied, "that must be Cinderella!" Contributed to "All In a Day's Work" by Kristin Freefelder Source: DailyInBox Presents, http://dailyinbox.com ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A buddy of mine, Mike, had season tickets to the Detroit Lions football games. Last year they had such a miserable record that he couldn't give away two tickets to a game he wasn't able to attend. While parking at a mall, he decided to leave the tickets under his windshield wiper. "And that worked?" I asked. "Not exactly," said Mike. "I returned to find six more tickets to the same game." Joseph l. Fromm. Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. Source: The Reader's Digest, Copyright © October 2002, All rights reserved., http://www.readersdigest.com/