Merged: Short stories.

[tolstoi]

^^read that on my emails already..trully inspiring indeed :mrgreen:

[Jacopo]

THE STORY OF TOMMY


Father John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago
writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named
Tommy...

Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students
file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of
Faith. That was the day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind
both blinked. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung
six inches below his shoulders. It was the first time I had ever
seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into
fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn't what's on your
head but what's in it that counts; but on that day I was
unprepared and my emotions flipped. I immediately filed Tommy
under "S" for strange...very strange.
Tommy turned out to be the "atheist in residence" in my Theology
of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or
whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving
Father/God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one
semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain
in the back pew. When he came up at the end of the course to
turn in his final exam, he asked in a cynical tone, "Do you
think I'll ever find God?"

I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. "No!" I said very
emphatically.

Why not," he responded, "I thought that was the product you were
pushing."

I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then called
out, "Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am
absolutely certain that He will find you!"
He shrugged a little and left my class and my life. I felt
slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my
clever line "He will find you! " At least I thought it was
clever.

Later I heard that Tommy had graduated and I was duly grateful.
Then a sad report came. I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer.
Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked
into my office, his body was very badly wasted and the long hair
had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes
were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I
believe.
"Tommy, I've thought about you so often I hear you're sick," I
blurted out."Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs.
It's a matter of weeks."

"Can you talk about it, Tom?" I asked.
"Sure, what would you like to know?" he replied.
"What's it like to be only 24 and dying?"
"Well, it could be worse."
"Like what?"
"Well, like being 50 and having no values or ideals, like being
50 and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are
the real biggies in life."
I began to look through my mental file cabinet under 'S' where I
had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try
to reject by classification, God sends back into my life to
educate me.)
"But what I really came to see you about," Tom said, "is
something you said to me on the last day of class." (He
remembered!) He continued, "I asked you if you thought I would
ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me. Then you
said, 'But He will find you.' I thought about that a lot, even
though my search for God was hardly intense at that time. (My
clever line. He thought about that a lot!)"But when the doctors
removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant,
that's when I got serious about locating God. And when the
malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging
bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not
come out.. In fact, nothing happened. Did you ever try anything
for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get
psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit.

Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more
futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or
may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn't really
care about God, about an after life, or anything like that. I
decided to spend what time I had left doing something more
profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered
something else you had said: 'The essential sadness is to go
through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad
to go through life and leave this Â*world without ever telling
those you loved that you had loved them.'

"So, I began with the hardest one, my Dad. He was reading the
newspaper when I approached him.
"Dad."
"Yes, what?" he asked without lowering the newspaper.
"Dad, I would like to talk with you."
"Well, talk."
"I mean...It's really important."
The newspaper came down three slow inches.
"What is it?"
"Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that."
Tom smiled at me and said it with obvious satisfaction, as
though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him.

"The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two
things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried
and he hugged me. We talked all night, even though he had to go
to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my
father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that
he loved me.

"It was easier with my mother and little brother. They cried
with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real
nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been
keeping secret for so many years.
"I was only sorry about one thing --- that I had waited so long.

Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had
actually been close to.
"Then, one day I turned around and God was there. He didn't come
to me when I pleaded with Him. I guess I was like an animal
trainer holding out a hoop, 'C'mon, jump through. C'mon, I'll
give you three days, three weeks.'

"Apparently God does things in His own way and at His own hour.
But the important thing is that He was there. He found me! You
were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for Him."

"Tommy," I practically gasped, "I think you are saying something

very important and much more universal than you realize. To me,
at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not
to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an
instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to
love. You know, the Apostle John said that. He said: 'God is
love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is
living in him.'

"Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class
you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to
me now. Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course
and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the
same thing it wouldn't be half as effective as if you were to
tell it."
"Ooh I was ready for you, but I don't know if I'm ready for your

class."

"Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a
call."
In a few days Tom called, said he was ready for the class, that
he wanted to do that for God and for me. So we scheduled a date.
However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more
important than the one with me and my class. Of course, his life
was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the
great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more
beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man
has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined. Before he
died, we talked one last time.
"I'm not going to make it to your class," he said.

"I know, Tom."
"Will you tell them for me? Will you tell the whole world for
me?"
"I will, Tom. I'll tell them. I'll do my best."
So, to all of you who have been kind enough to read this simple
story about God's love, thank you for listening. And to you,
Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven --- 'I
told them, Tommy, as best I could.'



With thanks,

Rev. John Powell, Professor
Loyola University in Chicago

[Jacopo]

What It Means To Be Poor...
Author Unknown

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son
on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of
showing his son how poor people can be. 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 can be?" the father asked. "Oh
Yeah" said the son. "So 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 that reaches to the middle of
our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We
have imported 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."

With this the boy's father was speechless. Then his
son
added, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are."

Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate
on what we don't have. What is one person's worthless
object is another's prize possession. It is all based
on one's perspective. Makes you wonder what would
happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we
have, instead of worrying about wanting more. Take joy
in all you have, especially your friends.

[amael]

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door...

Son: Daddy, may I ask you a question

Daddy:Yeah sure, what it is?

Son: Dad, how much do you make an hour

Daddy: \"Thats none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?

Son: I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?

Daddy: I make Rs. 500 an hour

Oh, the little boy replied, with his head down.

Looking up, he said, Dad, may I please borrow Rs. 300?

The father was furious,
if the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money
to buy a silly toy or other nonsense, then march yourself to your room and go to bed.
Think why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boys questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down,
and started to think:

May be there was something he really needed to buy with that
Rs. 300 and he really didnt ask for money very often!

The man went to the door of little boy\\\'s room and opened the door.
Are you asleep, son? He asked.
No daddy, Im awake, replied the boy.

Ive been thinking, may be I was too hard on you earlier, said the man,
Its been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.
Heres the Rs.300 you asked for

The little boy sat straight up, smiling oh thank you dad! He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crippled up notes.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.

Why do you want money if you already had some? the father grumbled.

Because I didnt have enough, but now I do, the little boy replied.
Daddy I have Rs. 500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?
Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you

MORAL Its just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some
time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

If we die tomorrow,
the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family....

[Jacopo]

Friendship


One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books.

I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives. " He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!"
There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes.
We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...
I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. >
With one small gesture you can change a person's life.
For better or for worse.
God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
Look for God in others

[psyche_08]

hmmm... so, thats how it goes... nice.

[priceless]

kainis! be assertive oi!
sad nuon ang ending

[priceless]

wwwaaaaa
ataka sad ani oi! saunz:

[mitch_a888]

arggg.. sakita oi...

[kyuusai]

huhuhu... kasakit.. makahilak man sad ta ug chicharon ani..