A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having
fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.
"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favour to ask. I have a friend
I'd like to bring home with me." "Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet
him." "There's something you should know," the son continued, "he was hurt
pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm
and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with
us." "I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere
to live." "No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us." "Son," said the
father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap
would be a terrible burden to us.
We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this
interfere with our lives. I think you should just come on home and forget
about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own." At that point, the
son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from
him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco
police. Their son died after falling from a building, they were told. The
police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San
Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to
identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror
they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one
arm and one leg.
The parents in this story are not unlike many of us. We find it easy
to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't
like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would
rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart
as we are.