THE SOLDIER'S FRIEND

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home
after having fought in Vietnam.

He called his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask.
I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me."

"Sure," they replied, "We'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was
hurt pretty bad in the fighting.  He stepped on a land mind and
lost an arm and a leg.  He has nowhere else to go, and I want
him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son.  Maybe we can help him find
somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking.
Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us.
We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like
this interfere with our lives."

"I think you should just come home and forget about this guy.
He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone.

The parents heard nothing more from him.  A few days later,
however, they received a call from the San Francisco police.

Their son had died after falling from a building, they
were told.  The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken
to the city morgue to identify the body of their son.

They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered
something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one
leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us.

We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to
have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or
make us feel uncomfortable.

We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy,
beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way.
Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us
into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little
prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept
people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of
those who are different from us.