![]() Once upon a time there was a wealthy farmer, he had a thriving farm, hired a handful of people but he also had a temperament from time to time. One day an old man cam along near Christmas Time and asked the farmer for a job. The farmer said; “ I don't know old man. I have others I'm considering now and they sound very professional.” To which the old man replied; “Farmer sir, I know the fields, I know the soil, I have toiled it and planted seeds a long time.” The old man went on and on until the Farmer agreed to give him a try. Soon the old man was doing so much he was like the farmer's assistant, with no extra pay of course but, he didn't care much, he was happy to be working. The Old man planted seeds everyday, he would cull out what looked to be bad seeds or imperfect seeds and was supposed to throw those away as directed by the Farmer. Knowing there were many poor people starving who did not have money to buy their own seeds to plant, the Old Man took the imperfect seeds and instead of throwing them away, he would give them to the poor to plant in hopes that one or more would sprout and provide them with food. One day the Farmer and the old man had an argument and the Farmer was not happy with him. Some of the other workers who were not as fond of the old man knew this was the time to get rid of him. They rushed to the farmer and told him the old man had been giving his seeds away to the poor. The farmer was outraged and confronted the farmer right away. The old man explained that it was the seeds that would otherwise spoil and go unused that he was giving away to the others. At this point the farmer could not see the forest for the trees and all but dismissed the old man. The old man gather his things and once before leaving approached the farmer to ask if he would get paid for several days he had coming. The Farmer did not answer. So the Old man asked, “ Do I still have a job, I need my job and the money owed to me to feed my family and pay my rent?” Still furious and not planning to ever speak to the old man again, the Farmer told him , “I'll let you know sometime tonight for sure.” A year passed and business was horrible for the Farmer, so bad that the bank finally foreclosed on his farm and he was left with nothing. The reality set in and the Farmer had a major heart attack and died. He found himself at the front of the line in the presence of the Pearly Gates and St Peter. ST PETER addresses the Farmer and asks; “Tell me Farmer, tell me what you've done to deserve passage through these gates?” FARMER: “I was a wealthy Farmer who employed many and made their lives better.” St Peter: “I see that but I also see you had a temperament and treated some of them badly?” Farmer: But I even hired an old man when no one else would and made his life better.” St Peter: “I see that too but, I also see that you let him go knowing that his job was all that stood between him and his family eating and having a place to live?” All of the sudden there was thunder and a lightning bolt from the sky. The Farmer fell to hims knees sobbing and said; “Forgive me my LORD” St Peter: “ Alright, alright, stand up. Go back to the end of this line, there you will find some benches. Take a seat and you will be called again.” The Farmer walked way back to the end of the line and just as St Peter had said there were the benches, a whole bunch of them with all sorts of people already sitting there. There was a place on the first bench with his name on it so the Farmer sat down and waited. At first it seemed like hours, then days. So the Farmer asked the man next to him; “Does anyone ever get called? Man: “Oh Yes you just have to wait. Farmer: “ But how long?” Man; “ As long as it takes. I've been here 2 weeks, some of the others have been here years.” All of the sudden the sound of a trumpet and a bright light appears, in it an Angel with a tablet and he calls a name. It happens to be someone 12 rows back. The Man walks to the front and the Angel directs him towards the light and he walks into it. As the Angels turns and prepares to leave the Farmer jumps up and asks him; “ Oh Holy Angel Do you know when I may be called?” So the Angel looks at his tablet and can't find anything then he looks towards the light and again the sound of Thunder and a Lightning bolt and the Angel kneels and asks; “This Farmer wants to know when he may be called?” More lightning and a clap of thunder. The Farmers asks; "What does that mean." The Angel replies; "Oh, I'm not sure but you'll probably find out by tonight for sure." With an heavenly fog the Angel was gone and the Farmer stood there with a terrible look on his face. The man next to him asked him, “What happened, did you not get the answer you asked for?” The Farmer sat down and started to cry. He knew the answer sounded very familiar. It had been the answer that he gave the old man knowing he would never call him again. Something to think about. It's not how many acts of kindness we do that count, it only takes one to get you through those gates. So the best thing to do is have as many as you can and don't let your humanity get in the way by benching you. GOD Bless and GOD speed. |
KWMC
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