Let's learn to get in touch
with the silence within ourselves and know that everything in this life
has a purpose. Here's a beautiful reflection about life by
Dr. Papaderos, a
Greek professor, as recounted by his student, Ted Cashion.
“Dr. Papaderos,
what is the meaning of life?” I asked the aging professor of Greek
culture and history. The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to
go. Papaderos held up his hand, stilled the room, and looked at me for a
long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes
that I was.
“I will answer
your question.” Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into
a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the
size of a quarter. And what he said went like this: “When I was a small
child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote
village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A
German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.”
“I tried to find
all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept
only the largest piece. This is the one. And by scratching it on a stone
I made it round. And I began to play with it as a toy and became
fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where
the sun would never shine,--in deep holes and crevices and dark closets.
It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I
could find.”
“I kept the
little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in
idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man,
I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a
metaphor for what might do with my life. I came to understand that I am
not the light for the source of light. But light--truth, understanding,
knowledge—is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I
reflect it.”
“I am a fragment
of a mirror whose design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with
what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world, into
the black places in the hearts of men, and change some things in some
people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise.”
“This is what I
am about. This is the meaning of my life!”
And then he took
his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of
daylight streaming through the window and reflected them onto my face
and onto my hands folded on the desk.
Much of what I
experienced in the way of information about Greek culture and history
that summer is gone from memory. But in the wallet of my mind I still
carry a small round mirror. –Ted Cashion
Do all
the good you can.
By all
the means you can.
In all
the ways you can.
In all
the places you can.
At all
the times you can.
As long
as you ever can.
By John
Wesley (1703-1791
|
Make yourself a blessing to someone.
Your kind smile or pat on the back just might pull someone back from the
edge.- Carmelia Elliot |