A young girl was suffering from a rare form of blood disease. Her only hope was to receive a transfusion from someone with exactly the same blood type as hers. After testing various members of the girl's family, it was discovered that her ten year old brother had a precise match.
The doctor talked to him, and gently raised the possibility of his providing a transfusion for his sister. 'Your sister is dying,' he explained, 'but your blood would be able to save her. Are you willing to give your blood?' The boy hesitated for a moment, and the doctor saw that he was anxious at the prospect. But the lad quickly agreed to the process.
After the transfusion, the doctor went to visit the brother to see how he was. 'Tell me ,' implored the boy, 'how long until I die?' Only then did the doctor realise his young patient's misunderstanding, and know that he had been willing to give his life so that his sister might live.
16 comments:
an example of true human beauty
Children are by far and away much more whole-hearted than adults can ever imagine. Sometimes I feel like adults are contaminated by the world. I understand the maturation process, but stories like yours remind me that children frequently are wise, tender and merciful well beyond their years.
i am such a cynic. all i could think of was that the kid probably agreed to it because he felt guilted into it in the first place and then he was probably realy relieved to find he didn't have to die.
(of course the kid here is actually me who will do most things out of guilt.... really, you should pity me and my cold cold heart....!)
That's a nice story. It makes one think, and that is always a good thing.
Mike
I know it's not my usual style of blogging, but i read the tale yesterday morning and it made me weep for something i don't fully inderstand - some lost innocence perhaps, who knows...
Niki,
hope all is well with your world - i couldn't agree more with your comment
Arlen,
maybe that's why we have to have faith like that of a child....only then can we be wise, tender and merciful, maybe.
ps, i checked out dan's web-site, sad, i hope one day he does make it back into the studio, but for now we wish him and his family well and treasure the past works
Shirley,
nothing wrong with being a cynical optomist - better than being a smiling pessemist...(in my book anyway)
Mike,
couldn't agree more...not enough thinking going on, particularly about ways where we make sacrifices for others
This story stopped me in my tracks when I first read it somewhere.....and I had the same reaction this time around (short term memory problem, perhaps.....I had forgotten the ending :)
This story represents the core of what grace is...........
Dana
The beauty of grace is that there is no limit to it, it floods our souls relentlessly, and i think in context of this kind of relationship it teaches us of another precious spiritual currency - mercy
to receive it when we have wronged someone is pretty much heaven itself; to offer it when we feel ourselves to have been wronged can feel impossible, but the two go together
human mercy and grace have their source in God's - we know them only because we have been shown them..... end of sermon
Paul ~
Just wanted to let you know I linked you.
Mike
Bravo on the sermon..........I read it this morning and it gave me cognitive sustenance to sit through a day long meeting ....beautifully written......
Makes me think of that passage in John which says "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." This doesn't mean necessarily dying for others but using our life for others, living a life but not for ourselves, having a serving and helping attitude instead of "I want this" attitude.
Jesus says this is how we should love one another.... beautiful!
Mike,
flattered that you wanted to link my site, i drop by yours most days now, hopefully our stories will keep us good company on the journey
Dana,
cognitive sustenance! it's been a long time since i've been a vehicle to provide that - i usually embody cognitive dissonance!
Jules,
glad you doing ok and the job seems to be going well - i left a comment on your blog the other day but don't it seems to have vanished! hey ho - mine's a guinness if i ever drop by
Hi Paul - I got your comment, thanks. Guinness - now that's a hard pint to pull!!
My world exists
Niki
The truth is i have struggled to find words that seem to have meaning for you (which is really fucking irritating for someone who gets paid to write stuff!) - i have no idea what your hell looks like - all i hope is that you are finding those who share and show compassion with you
my own world is a bloody mess, just a different kind - remember, were all beautiful imperfection. Here's a prayer written by my friend Pip
Help us remember that the idiot who cut us up in traffic
is a single Mother who has worked nine hours that day
and is rushing to Greenbelt to cook a meal and settle the kids down so they can have a good first day at the festival
and spend a few precious moments with her friends
who have saved hard to get to Greenbelt.
Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man
who can't handle his change correctly is a worried YMCA Hostel resident who is behind in his rent and cannot afford the cheapest hotdog on site.
At the same time balancing his apprehension over his fear
of not getting on well with the group he came with.
Remind us Lord, that the scary looking young woman
rolling her eyes and cannot stop moving her body,
is a recovering slave to addictions
that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.
Remind us that the scars of the self harming woman,
scarred for life,
is just like me with my scars
that and hinder and equip at the same time.
And remember that we, maybe,
can just hide ours better.
Help us to remember that the old couple
walking annoyingly slow through the festival site
and blocking our process
are savouring this moment,
knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week,
this will be the last year that they will be at Greenbelt together.
Creator God, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us,
the greatest gift is love.
That it is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.
But those for who,
on first impressions,
make us shudder, or sigh or grunt with irritability.
Open our soul and press your finger tip right on that part,
the part to raise your love to the surface.
So it touches the practical.
The proactive.
The love department
© Pip Wilson
I'm not alone Paul, you don't even have to say hello, but I thank you for being so beautiful.
That prayer is phenomenal
Niki
All i can add is that religion is for people who are afraid of hell, Christian mystic spirituality is for those who have been there....
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