Judge Not

Today's Link
David's Christian Music Stuff

Saying for the Day
Maybe you don't like your job, maybe you didn't get enough sleep, well nobody likes their job, nobody got enough sleep. Maybe you just had the worst day of your life, but you know, there's no escape, there's no excuse, so just suck up and be nice. ~Ani Difranco

Picture of the Day
From the Archives- Elijah at Crystal

I received this e-mail forwarded from Ralp. Perfect for Sunday
Never Judge someone'

'Some people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at
the grocery store. 'You would think the manager would pay attention

and open another line, 'said a woman.
I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw
a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her
credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine
Kept rejecting it.

'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job
like everyone else,' said the man standing behind me.
The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment.
'It was me,' he said, pointing to himself.

The young lady's face began t o change expression. Almost in tears,
she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out
of the store. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began
running to her car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away.

After developing cancer in 1977 and having had to use food stamps; I
had learned never to judge anyone, without knowing the circumstances
of their life. This turned out to be the case today. Several minutes
later a young man walked into the store. He went up to the cashier
and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her, the cashier
told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove
away.

'Why would she do that?' asked the man. Everyone in the line looked
around at the fellow who had made the statement.
'I made a stupid comment about the welfare card she was using.
Something I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry,' said the man.

'Well, that's bad, real bad, in fact Her brother was killed in Afghanistan
two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that
responsibility. She's twenty years old, single, and now has three children
to support,' he said in a very firm voice.

'I'm really truly sorry. I didn't know,' he replied, shaking both his hands
about. The young man asked, 'Are these paid for?' pointing to the shopping
cart full of groceries. 'It wouldn't take her card,' the clerk told him.
'Do you know where she lives?' asked the man who had made the comment.

'Yes, she goes to our church.' 'Excuse me,' he said as he made his way
to the front of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took out his
credit card and
told the cashier, 'Please use my card. PLEASE!' The clerk took his credit
card and began to ring up the young woman's groceries.

'Hold on,' said the gentleman. He walked back to his shopping cart and
began loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included. 'Come on
people. We got three kids to help raise!' he told everyone in line.
Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A
few customers began bagging the food and placing it into separate carts.
'Go back and get two big turkeys,' yelled a heavyset woman, as she
looked at the man.

'NO,' yelled the man. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire
store became quiet for several seconds. 'Four turkeys,' yelled the man.
Everyone began laughing and went back to work.
When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the
groceries. He then walked over to the side, pulled out his check book,
and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the
front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed
the check to the young man. 'She will need a freezer and a few other
things as well,' he told the man.

The young man looked at the check and said, 'This is really very
generous of you.'
'No,' said the man. 'Her brother was the generous one.'
Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and
began to clap.

And I drove home that day feeling very American.
We live in the Land of the free, because of the Brave!!! Remember
our Troops of Yesterday and Today!!!
A great example of why we should be kind and patient. Kindness
is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear.

May God's many blessings continue to be with you - ALWAYS!!!
PLEASE KEEP THIS GOING....
IT WILL OPEN A LOT OF EYES, HOPEFULLY HEARTS, AND
KEEP SOME MOUTHS SHUT.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
Last Lutheran will hold its usual two services this morning. Pastor Joan will be preaching on the gospel lesson. She will be talking about giving God that which belongs to God. She will be raising the question of what it means to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom.
Tommy Uk and Tammy will be the acolytes at the late service and Pastor Joan hopes they will behave and there will be no surprises.
The youth group is in charge of the coffee between the services.
There was a group that came and stood outside the museum at 6:30 this morning even though it wasn’t open. They watched through the window as the shoes danced and listened while the piano played. Afterwards one went to the early service at Last Lutheran. The others caught the milk train out.

Wrap Up

It was a fairly good day but I didn't sleep well last night. We went to Church. I tooled around taking pictures and talking to people. The choir had a great song. The children's sermon couldn't have been better. The main sermon was pretty good. The fellowship after was great. We sat with some new members and talked about St. Mark's. Coming home I spent the afternoon updating the Church website and that took some time. Betty and Pennie watched the Packer game. I visited some blogs. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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