Light & Life
THE UNTHANKED
If you have pen, paper, and can remember someone who inspired your life, the challenge is set for you in this week's Going Deeper.
When a man called William Stidger taught at a well known University, he once reflected upon the great number of un-thanked people in his life, those who helped nurture him, inspire him, or who cared enough to leave a lasting impression on him.
One was a school teacher heíd not heard of for many years, but he remembered that sheíd gone out of her way to instil a love of verse in him. As a result, Stidger had loved poetry all his life. So he wrote her a letter of thanks.
The reply he received, written in the feeble scrawl of the aged,
began ëMy Dear Willieí. He was delighted. He was now over 50,
bald and a professor. He didnít think there was a person left on the
planet who would call him ìWillie.î
It went on to say: ëI cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. Iím in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, and like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years, and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue- cold morning and cheered me as nothing has in many years.í
Not prone to cry easily, Stidger wept over that note. She was one of the great un-thanked people from his past. You know them ñ we all do. We all have them in our lives.
Mother Teresa said ìKind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.î
Got any un-thanked people? Then I trust you will take the time to
write them a note and let them know how important they have
been to you in your life.
Donít forget to thank those we work with, those who we play
with, those who are nearest and dearest to us ñ donít take people
for granted.
God can use you as He did Paul when he wrote in Philippians 1 verse 3 ìI thank my God every time I remember you.î
Iím Rod Allen of The Salvation Army.