What it means to be poor
One day a father of a very
wealthy family took
his son on a trip to the country with the firm
purpose of showing his son how poor people can
be. They spent a couple of days and nights on
the farm of what would be considered a very
poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father
asked his son, "How was
the trip?" "It was
great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can
be?" the father asked.
"Oh Yeah" said the son.
"So what did you learn
from the trip?" asked
the father. The son answered, "I saw that we
have one dog and they had four. We have a pool
that reaches to the middle of our garden and
they have a creek that has no end. We have
imported lanterns in our garden and they have
the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the
front yard and they have the whole horizon. We
have a small piece of land to live on and they
have fields that go beyond our sight. We have
servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy food, but they grow theirs. We have
walls around our property to protect us; they
have friends to protect them." With this the
boy's father was speechless. Then his son
added, "Thanks dad for
showing me how poor we
are."
Too many times we forget what we have and
concentrate on what we don't have. What is one
person's worthless object is another's prize
possession. It is all based on one's
perspective. Makes you wonder what would happen
if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have,
instead of worrying about wanting more.