Do you remember the story of the sailor who over-imbibed and fell asleep at his
table in the bar? His buddies smeared a bit of strong-smelling cheese dip on his
moustache, which caused him to wake up and look around. He sniffed and then
walked outside, sniffed again and came back in, walked out and back in one more
time and finally sat back down in his seat. "It's no use," he said to his
friend, "the whole world stinks!"
Ever felt that way? We have all experienced bad days and horrible situations.
We've felt trapped, helpless and, at times, hopeless. We may have even believed
that the whole world stinks.
But I like the tremendous way one woman has learned to approach living. She grew
up in extreme poverty, but was privileged to be in a Sunday School class taught
by a young woman named Alice Freeman Palmer, who was later to become president
of Wellesley College. One Sunday, the teacher asked the children to find
something beautiful in their homes, and then tell the other children about it
the next Sunday.
The following Sunday, when the little girl was asked what she found that was
beautiful at home, she thought of her impoverished condition and replied,
"Nothing. There's nothing beautiful where I live, except . . . Except the
sunshine on our baby's curls."
Years later, long after Mrs. Palmer's untimely death, her husband was lecturing
at a university in the western United States. He was approached by a
distinguished looking woman who fondly recalled that she had been a member of
his wife's Sunday School class. "I can remember that your wife once asked us to
find something beautiful in our homes, and that I came back saying the only
beautiful thing I could find was the sunshine on my sister's curls. But that
assignment your wife made was the turning point in my life. I began to look for
something beautiful wherever I was, and I've been doing it ever since." That one
suggestion turned her life around.
If you have been thinking your "whole world stinks," the daily habit of looking
for something beautiful can help you see the good there is in the world, and
transform your hope into the positive energy needed to build a life that counts.
Steve Goodier
Thanks to Tidbits Devotional
champ@midsouth.rr.com
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