MORAL STORIES

A GLASS OF MILK

A poor boy was walking along a road, carrying a bundle of books, to his school. He was from a very poor family and his parents could not provide him even regular food. As he was already late, he was almost running. He was hungry and very weak. Suddenly he felt exhausted and fell down, scattering his books on the roadside. Seeing his fall, a lady rushed to the spot from her house. She helped the boy to get up, collected his books and carried him to her house. The boy was very weak and hungry, but he did not ask for food as he did not want to be a burden to anybody. He asked for only a little water to drink. The lady sensed his state and offered him a glass of milk. The boy accepted it with gratitude and continued his journey to the school. The incident remained fresh in his mind.

Several years rolled by. The lady became old, sick and weak. She was admitted to the local hospital. As her condition became worse, she was shifted to a large medical institute in a distant city. The senior doctor, who was also the director of the institute, examined her. He diagnosed her disorder and performed an immediate surgery. She was carried to the best room in the hospital and provided expert medical care. The staff was always ready to offer all assistance and care. Within a month, she could regain her health fully. She was informed that she would be discharged the next day. She was worried about the bill as she was poor and could not afford to pay a large amount. She planned to sell her house to settle the bill. She enquired about the bill. The bill was presented to her. She examined it anxiously. On the top of the bill, there was a note signed by the director of the institute, “THE AMOUNT HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL BY A GLASS OF MILK.”

Slowly she recollected the incident when she gave a glass of milk to a poor, weak and hungry boy who fell down on the road near her residence. By this time, the director himself came to her room and she could recognize his face. He was the same boy whom she had helped with a glass of milk a long time ago. He had recognized her earlier and gratefully made elaborate arrangements for her treatment and paid the expenses from his own pocket, all for a glass of milk and tender care received in a crucial moment of his life, during his hard times, long before he became a distinguished doctor by his hard work and earnest efforts.

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho passes through our front. Let us behave like the Good Samaritan and be of help to any one in need.

“Give to the poor and you will never be in need” {Proverbs 28:27}.

“Be generous and share your food with the poor. You will be blessed for it” {Proverbs 22: 9}.

“Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them!” {Matthew 5: 7}.

“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” {Matthew 25:35, 36} “I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of brothers of mine, you did it for me!” {Matthew 25: 40}.

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© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

This is Story No. 170 in this site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of a page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom of a page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.