Read Gerri's Leaf Story
ON THE PATH...
thoughts along the way
Everything that happens is either a blessing which is also a lesson, or a lesson which is also a blessing. Polly Berrien Berends
Have you been to any garage sales lately? I have and they are like treasure hunts, looking for things you really don’t need yet you somehow get caught up in the adventure of it all. I always come away with some memorable experiences. While at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago, I spotted some nice leather purses. As I picked one of them up, a memory from the past flashed into my mind where I had discovered a $5 bill in a wallet last summer at a garage sale. As I was telling the current garage sale owner about it, I pulled out a twenty dollar bill I found in a purse that she was selling. She was aghast. I gladly handed the money over to her and she really couldn’t thank me enough. She gave me five dollars for a finders fee! We laughed about how I just made five dollars for being honest. Well, this gave me money to spend at her sale. What fun, I thought. So I purchased some things. She said she had learned her lesson to look through all her purses and pockets whenever she sells anything again. Anything in our life can be a teacher to us. We build character by how we treat others in all situations. Honesty, integrity, giving/receiving, love, kindness, keeping our word, having faith, forgiveness, patience, being conscious of others and being aware of how we act and interact with others helps mold us into who we are. Life lessons occur daily. Trust is a a big issue. Once we lose trust in another, it’s hard to get it back. Trust is earned. We have a very human need to believe, to trust each other. I think we’d go mad if we felt there was no one we could trust. Leo Buscaglia A friend of mine, Jimmy, told me about a time when he was ten-years-old. He went to visit his neighbor and saw 50 cents laying on the table inside the enclosed porch. The money had been left for the paper boy. Jimmy took the money so he could buy some candy. Jimmy told me that all of these years he has been bothered by this and never knew how to handle the gnawing guilt he felt. So, after 52 years he wrote a check for 50 dollars to the woman who is now 92-years-old. Inside the envelope, he wrote her a heartfelt letter telling her how very sorry he was for taking the money and that he had learned his lesson. He said that cleared his conscience. Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I’ll show you somebody who has never achieved much.” Joan Collins These stories reminded me of a parable from the Bible as told by Jesus. It is the story of The Prodigal Son. A rich man had two sons whom he loved very much. One day the younger son came to his father and asked him to give him his share of the many riches which he had been saving for him. He said that he wanted them now, while he was still young, so he could enjoy himself. So the father gave the son his share of the riches. A few days later the son packed his belongings and left his father’s house, traveling to a far away country to live with strangers. At first everything was OK. He did not work and had lots of friends. He wasted away his money and all earthly possessions. He never stopped to think of his family who had been so good to him. Meanwhile the older son had stayed at home doing what was expected of him. After running out of money the younger son’s friends left him because he was no longer rich. He was totally alone. Then a famine came upon the land. There was no food. He was starving and penniless. He knew he had to look for work but had no trade. At last a man offered him a job looking after pigs. He didn’t like the job, but he was starving. Even with a job, he earned so little that he still went hungry. The pigs had more to eat than he did. He was unhappy and miserable and wondered how his family was. He realized that his older brother, servants and parents had more than enough to eat while he was starving and eating with the pigs. He got up from the ground and began walking back home to his own country. It was far away and he walked for many many miles to get there. He was dirty, tired and weak when he arrived at the house of his father. His father saw a thin ragged, limping man approaching from a distance and knew it was his son. After all these years his father still had great love for his son and ran to him and threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son admitted how ashamed he was of what he had done. He humbly asked his father for forgiveness and told him that he had sinned against God and was no longer worthy to be called his son. His father brought him into the house, gave him a robe, put a signet ring on his finger and brought shoes for his feet. He called out for the servants to bring the fatted calf and to prepare a great feast, claiming his son was lost and now he is found. Upon seeing how the younger son was being treated, the older son became angry. The father told him that he had always been a good son and all he has is his but he must forgive his brother because he is really genuinely sorry for how he acted with all that he had been given. If we pay attention, we will see the lessons contained in each day. And, as we recognize and learn, we will be wiser and richer from the experience. Every lesson contains a blessing.
Have you been to any garage sales lately? I have and they are like treasure hunts, looking for things you really don’t need yet you somehow get caught up in the adventure of it all. I always come away with some memorable experiences.
While at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago, I spotted some nice leather purses. As I picked one of them up, a memory from the past flashed into my mind where I had discovered a $5 bill in a wallet last summer at a garage sale.
As I was telling the current garage sale owner about it, I pulled out a twenty dollar bill I found in a purse that she was selling. She was aghast. I gladly handed the money over to her and she really couldn’t thank me enough. She gave me five dollars for a finders fee! We laughed about how I just made five dollars for being honest. Well, this gave me money to spend at her sale. What fun, I thought. So I purchased some things. She said she had learned her lesson to look through all her purses and pockets whenever she sells anything again.
Anything in our life can be a teacher to us.
We build character by how we treat others in all situations. Honesty, integrity, giving/receiving, love, kindness, keeping our word, having faith, forgiveness, patience, being conscious of others and being aware of how we act and interact with others helps mold us into who we are. Life lessons occur daily.
Trust is a a big issue. Once we lose trust in another, it’s hard to get it back. Trust is earned.
We have a very human need to believe, to trust each other. I think we’d go mad if we felt there was no one we could trust. Leo Buscaglia
A friend of mine, Jimmy, told me about a time when he was ten-years-old. He went to visit his neighbor and saw 50 cents laying on the table inside the enclosed porch. The money had been left for the paper boy. Jimmy took the money so he could buy some candy. Jimmy told me that all of these years he has been bothered by this and never knew how to handle the gnawing guilt he felt. So, after 52 years he wrote a check for 50 dollars to the woman who is now 92-years-old. Inside the envelope, he wrote her a heartfelt letter telling her how very sorry he was for taking the money and that he had learned his lesson. He said that cleared his conscience.
Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I’ll show you somebody who has never achieved much.” Joan Collins
These stories reminded me of a parable from the Bible as told by Jesus. It is the story of The Prodigal Son. A rich man had two sons whom he loved very much. One day the younger son came to his father and asked him to give him his share of the many riches which he had been saving for him. He said that he wanted them now, while he was still young, so he could enjoy himself. So the father gave the son his share of the riches. A few days later the son packed his belongings and left his father’s house, traveling to a far away country to live with strangers. At first everything was OK. He did not work and had lots of friends. He wasted away his money and all earthly possessions. He never stopped to think of his family who had been so good to him. Meanwhile the older son had stayed at home doing what was expected of him. After running out of money the younger son’s friends left him because he was no longer rich. He was totally alone. Then a famine came upon the land. There was no food. He was starving and penniless. He knew he had to look for work but had no trade. At last a man offered him a job looking after pigs. He didn’t like the job, but he was starving. Even with a job, he earned so little that he still went hungry. The pigs had more to eat than he did. He was unhappy and miserable and wondered how his family was. He realized that his older brother, servants and parents had more than enough to eat while he was starving and eating with the pigs. He got up from the ground and began walking back home to his own country. It was far away and he walked for many many miles to get there. He was dirty, tired and weak when he arrived at the house of his father. His father saw a thin ragged, limping man approaching from a distance and knew it was his son. After all these years his father still had great love for his son and ran to him and threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son admitted how ashamed he was of what he had done. He humbly asked his father for forgiveness and told him that he had sinned against God and was no longer worthy to be called his son. His father brought him into the house, gave him a robe, put a signet ring on his finger and brought shoes for his feet. He called out for the servants to bring the fatted calf and to prepare a great feast, claiming his son was lost and now he is found. Upon seeing how the younger son was being treated, the older son became angry. The father told him that he had always been a good son and all he has is his but he must forgive his brother because he is really genuinely sorry for how he acted with all that he had been given.
If we pay attention, we will see the lessons contained in each day. And, as we recognize and learn, we will be wiser and richer from the experience. Every lesson contains a blessing.
Gerri Magee is director of advertising and public relations and assistant to the editor of phenomeNEWS. She continues to share her thoughts “On The Path” in this column. She can be reached at gerri@phenomenews.com.
