posted 02-12- 05:21 PM               

Pete

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and
went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him,knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled aroundlooking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."
He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big
smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real
gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he
lived.
As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had
never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now.
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way
home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he
wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all
weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my
friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack
of books again. I stopped him and said, "Damn boy, you are gonna really build some serious
muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, began to
think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we
would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a
doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had
to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found
himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates
than me and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days.
I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big
guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began.

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents,
your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that
being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was
carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling
that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for the good in others.

You now have two choices, you can:

1) Pass this on to your friends; or
2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

As you can see, I took choice number 1. Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

posted 02-13- 12:44 AM               

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silas
Fortune favours the brave.
Demon's Runway

posted 02-15- 11:30 PM               

I'm getting quote-happy all of the sudden...

"To assert that Christianity communicated to man moral truths previously unknown, argues on the part of the asserter either gross ignorance or else wilful fraud.... The system of morals expounded in the New Testament contains no maxims which had not been previously enunciated."
Henry Thomas Buckle

On the other side of that...
"The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."
Joseph Conrad

posted 02-16- 08:05 AM               

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