Morning Thought 3

Wednesday January 4th  2017

"You coming with the shoeboxes is the most eagerly awaited day of the year. We thank you for coming back each year to us".  That was what one head teacher said to us in a needy village and all children in his school had brightly smiling faces and excitement sparkling out of their eyes. 

But in a nearby village in the small kindergarten it was a very different reception we got. Soon after we walked in we heard a young child's loud crying which continued non-stop. The teachers tried a number of times to placate him but without success. He wailed so loudly the rest of the class couldn't sing for us. It was explained to us that the doctor had come to school a few days before and the little boy had decided we were doctors and he was terrified. 

We hurriedly gave out the shoeboxes and retreated -- as we went to the next class we heard the wailing subsiding. 

It was a shame -  it spoilt the boy’s  enjoyment of receiving his first Christmas shoebox and affected all his class. If only he had listened to his teachers when they told him we weren't the dreaded doctor, but a group bearing gifts.

 

Often we can be like that boy. We jump to conclusions and do not listen to what others say. At the start of this new year let us decide that from now we will listen better, really listen giving our full attention. We may not change our minds, but if we have  listened to another's point of view, we have opened ourselves up to the possibility of change.

Remember doubting Thomas in the Bible? If he had listened to the other disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, he would not have mourned the loss of his friend Jesus for that extra week, but instead he would have rejoiced. 

 

Have a good day.

 

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