The Salesman and the Apple
I got this from my church bulletin. was close to tears when i read it.
Several years ago, a group of computer salesman from Milwaukee went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for dinner. But with one thing and another, the meeting went overtime and the men had to race to the station, tickets in hand.
As they barge through the terminal, 1 man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples. Without stopping, all the men reached the train and boarded it with a sign of relief. All but one. He paused, got in touch with his feelings, experienced a twinge of uneasiness for the boy whose apple stand had been overturned. He waved goodbye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The ten yr old boy was blind.
The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that several of them were bruised. He reached into his wallet, "Here, please take this $10 for the damage we did. I hope it won't spoil your day." As he started to walk away, the bewildered boy called after him, 'Are you Jesus?' He stopped in his tracks. And he wondered.
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Reflections: There is a natural tendency to think that our concerns are always more important than that of our neighbours. When we do that we disregard the value of the other's life. The insensitivity by which we pursue them causes us to b an obstacle and the obsession makes us blind to the other's need. Compassion is not a want but a need. A need that comes from duty. When it is generated by a want it seeks self-glorification or appeasement. When it is a duty generated by love it proclaims the very essence of our being who we were created to be. The need of the other must invoke in us the need to care. It is also amazing how when we do not 'see' the world but only experience the world through peopl's acitons, we perhaps can find Christ. When judged by appearance we tend to write off any possibility of good that can come forth.
Several years ago, a group of computer salesman from Milwaukee went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for dinner. But with one thing and another, the meeting went overtime and the men had to race to the station, tickets in hand.
As they barge through the terminal, 1 man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples. Without stopping, all the men reached the train and boarded it with a sign of relief. All but one. He paused, got in touch with his feelings, experienced a twinge of uneasiness for the boy whose apple stand had been overturned. He waved goodbye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The ten yr old boy was blind.
The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that several of them were bruised. He reached into his wallet, "Here, please take this $10 for the damage we did. I hope it won't spoil your day." As he started to walk away, the bewildered boy called after him, 'Are you Jesus?' He stopped in his tracks. And he wondered.
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Reflections: There is a natural tendency to think that our concerns are always more important than that of our neighbours. When we do that we disregard the value of the other's life. The insensitivity by which we pursue them causes us to b an obstacle and the obsession makes us blind to the other's need. Compassion is not a want but a need. A need that comes from duty. When it is generated by a want it seeks self-glorification or appeasement. When it is a duty generated by love it proclaims the very essence of our being who we were created to be. The need of the other must invoke in us the need to care. It is also amazing how when we do not 'see' the world but only experience the world through peopl's acitons, we perhaps can find Christ. When judged by appearance we tend to write off any possibility of good that can come forth.
posted by Cindy at
4:26 pm
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