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Show Thoughts From The Garden... by Tonya LeMone It is easy to despise what you cannot get. . . This time of year always seems to bring forth the increased emphasis of thankfulness. The most obvious reason of course is that we celebrate the harvest and our traditional Thanksgiving. I am often quoted as saying "1 love my life, I love my life." But it is usually when I hear of a real trial in someone's life that I realize the wonderful life I do have. I do not want to minimize trials in people's lives because trials are usually a blessing in the end and help those around them grow or change in some way. 1 was recently reminded of Aesop's Fable about sour grapes: "One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour." More often than not, if there is something we want in life and we are unable to obtain it, we will walk away much like the fox with our nose in the air and with an attitude of "sour grapes". How does that benefit anyone in anyway? Well maybe the grapes are better off. But, as individuals we have shown anything but gratitude toward others and life itself. Let me tell you about a young man that spent a lifetime waiting for people to help him reach the "grapes" in his life. The outstanding thing about this young man is that he never once turned and walked away with his nose in the air and cal'ed his "grapes" sour. This young man waited patiently upon everyone in his life to help him do the smallest of tasks. He waited to eat, he waited to get out of bed in the morning, he waited to get dressed , to go to school , to shower, and at the end of the day he waited to be placed into bed. Even though this trial would have been "sour grapes" to many parents, his parents never once complained but felt the strength of his companionship and the lessons of patience taught daily. I did not know him well but knew of him and although his short 23 years of life on earth were seemingly hard to all of us, he approached life with patience beyond measure and endured waiting. As you sit at the dinner table tomorrow after waiting an entire day to consume your Thanksgiving meal, stop and WAIT for just one minute and think in your heart about the gratitude you have for the life you live, the 'beautiful city you live in, the fact you will be warm this evening and that you can partake of a simple grape anytime, but if that grape seems beyond your grasp, please do not walk away and call it sour. Think of it as a gift you have left for the next person passing by. Thank you for the lessons of patience, Mark, we love you. See you in the garden |