THE CHARM OF CHARITY
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 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!" {Matthew 25: 35-40}.
...........................................................................................................................
© 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, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally,
Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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