Hello friends. I trust your year is off to a great start.
I just had to share this beautiful story shared by a colleague,
Alan Smith, author of Thought for the Day.
TELL ME WHOM YOU LOVE
The following story is one of my favorites. It comes from
Max Lucado's book, "And The Angels Were Silent." I have shared
it before but want to share it again.
"John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his
Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way
through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart
he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose. His
interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida
library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued,
not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in
the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and
insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the
previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort
he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote
her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.
"The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World
War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know
each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on
a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a
photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared,
it wouldn't matter what she looked like.
"When the day finally came for him to return from Europe,
they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central
Station in New York. 'You'll recognize me,' she wrote, 'by the
red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel.' So at 7:00 he was in the
station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face
he'd never seen.
"I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young
woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde
hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were
blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in
her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I
started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not
wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her
lips. 'Going my way, sailor?' she murmured.
"Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and
then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly
behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked
under a worn hat.. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled
feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.
"The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I
felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow
her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit
had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood.
Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes
had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers
gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to
identify me to her.
"This would not be love, but it would be something
precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for
which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders
and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though
while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.
'I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell.
I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?'
"The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. 'I
don't know what this is about, son,' she answered, 'but the young
lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear
this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to
dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big
restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of
test!'
"It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's
wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to
the unattractive. 'Tell me whom you love,' Houssaye wrote, 'And
I will tell you who you are.'"
The story carries its own application, so I will add no
thought of my own. Simply this scripture:
"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of
the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." (Matthew
25:40)
Tell me whom you love, and I will tell you whom you are.
Have a great day!
You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com
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