Francis Gay

MY WEEK

HE pointed up to the steeple. “You see that bell there? It’s worth a fortune with scrap prices what they are now.”

Not knowing how to reply to that, I moved the conversation on. But the comment stayed with me.

Each of us decide how we look at the world. And that helps shape it. He chose not to see the history or architecture of the building, to look past its century-and-a-half as a spiritual sanctuary, to ignore the times and events the bell had tolled for, choosing instead to see scrap and cash.

We, constantly, have the chance to make this a better world, but to do so we need to raise our thoughts a little higher. Perhaps not higher than the church steeple, but at least to somewhere above the bottom line. I SAT at a nearby table and watched as the man delved into his bag.

“Would you like one of these that grandma sent?” he asked the little girl sitting across from him.

Her reply was an excited squeal and the gasped words: “Yes please!”

He laughed. “You don’t even know what it is?”

“But grandpa!” she protested with a laugh. “It’s from grandma!”

Apparently, no other explanation was needed.

It was a very cute moment. But there was more to it.

She obviously thought that only good and positive things came from grandma. Imagine if we lived our lives in such a way that people thought the same of us!