Stories Inspiring

An old story comes from pre-telephone days when a young man applied for a job as a telegraph operator. He answered an ad in the newspaper and went to the telegraph office to await an interview. Though he knew Morse code and was qualified in every other way, seven other applicants were also waiting in the large, noisy office, who were no doubt equally qualified.

He saw customers coming and going and heard a telegraph clacking away in the background. He also noticed a sign on the receptionist’s counter instructing applicants to fill out a form and wait to be summoned to an inner office for an interview. He filled out the form and sat down to wait.

The following story came to me by way of “Chicken Soul For the Soul”. Its source is listed as “Gentle Spaces News”.

A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment . . . then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.

Where is true peace to be found? Archbishop Desmond Tutu might say it can be found in the African concept of “ubuntu.”

He says, “Ubuntu is a concept that we have in our Bantu languages at home. Ubuntu is the essence of being a person. It means that we are people through other people. We cannot be fully human alone. We are made for interdependence, we are made for family. When you have ubuntu, you embrace others. You are generous, compassionate.”

He also says that if the world had more ubuntu, there would be no war. The powerful would help the weak. That is where peace is to be found.

A story from World War II shines a spotlight on ubuntu. In 1942, the American consul ordered citizens home from the Persian Gulf, for fear they might get caught in the spreading conflict. Travel was difficult, and some civilians secured passage on the troop ship Mauritania. Passengers included thousands of Allied soldiers, 500 German prisoners of war and 25 civilian women and children.

A man was going up to bed, when his wife told him he’d left the light on in the garden shed – she could see it from the bedroom window. But he said that he hadn’t been in the shed that day. He looked, and there were men in the shed, stealing things. He rang the police, but they told him that no one was in his area, so no one was available to catch the thieves.

He said OK, hung up, counted to 30 and rang the police again. “Hello. I just rang you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed? Well, you don’t have to worry about them now, I’ve just shot them all.”

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn’t find one big enough for her family.

She asked a stock boy, “Do these turkeys get any bigger?”

“No ma’am,” he replied, “they’re dead.”

No, the turkeys won’t get any bigger. But you and I can bigger – at least on the inside. There is no reason to stop growing as long as we’re alive. In fact, I intend to spend the rest of my life growing and changing.

My Internet friend Father Brian Cavanaugh tells a funny story about growth. He relates an experience at occurred during seminary days in his book MORE SOWER’S SEEDS: Second Planting. He and two friends thought to plant a small vegetable garden outside their house of studies. It would consist of tomatoes, squash and cucumbers and the only financial investment required was for them to rent a rake, a pickax and a hoe. The urban environment didn’t allow much space for a garden, but they determined that a small, sunny area of the stone-covered dirt parking lot could work well. However, permission would be needed and they feared that getting the superior’s okay might be no easy task.

You may have seen the following list of things that people are reported to have said to a travel agent. The list is bogus, but still humorous!

* A woman called, wanting to go to Cape Town. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information then she interrupted me with, “I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Cape Town is in Massachusetts.” Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, “Cape Cod is in Massachusetts. Cape Town is in Africa.” Her response? Click.

* A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, “Don’t lie to me. I looked on the map, and Florida is a very thin state!”

Heavenly Father,

Help us remember, that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night, is a single mother, who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember, that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

One grizzled westerner says, “Ain’t no horse can’t be rode; ain’t no cowboy can’t be throwed.” Problem is … some people seem to be riding most of the time while others sit in the dirt discouraged.

Why is that? Why do some people seem to have an easier go of it than others? Why do some people seem to find their place while others never quite “get it together”? And why do many average and ordinary people accomplish extraordinary, or at least notable, things while others expect that they will never really amount to much?

The story is told about a king who had a close friend. This friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) by remarking, “This is good, God knows what is best.”

One day, the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king, but he had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, because after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, “This is good, God knows what is best.” To which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and ordered his soldiers to put his friend into jail.

A hunter was walking through the jungle when he found a huge dead elephant with a pygmy standing beside it.

Amazed, he asked, “Did you kill that?”

The pygmy said, “Yes.”

The hunter asked, “How could a little bloke like you kill a huge beast like that?”

“I killed it with my club.”

The astonished hunter asked, “How big is your club?”

The pygmy replied, “There’s about 60 of us.”

There is great value in having a “club” of people who will fight with you, work with you, and be there for you when you need assistance. Solomon put it this way:

“If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.” (Ecclesiastes 4:11-12)