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At the turn of the century, a man wrote in his
diary the story of a young newsboy he met on a street near his
home in London. It was well known in the neighborhood that the
boy was an orphan. His father had abandoned the family when
the boy was a baby, and his mother had died shortly after he
began selling newspapers.
All attempts to
place the boy in either an institution or a foster home were
thwarted, because the boy refused each offer of help and ran
away when attempts were made to confine him. "I can take care
of myself jest fine, thank ye!" he would say to kindly older
ladies who questioned whether he'd had his porridge that
day.
Indeed, he never
looked hungry and his persistence at selling papers, load
after load, gave the impression he spoke the
truth.
But the streets are a
lonely place for a child to live, and the man's diary reflects
a conversation he had with the child about his living
arrangements. As he stopped to buy his paper one day, the man
bought a little extra time by fishing around in his pocket for
coins and asked the boy where he lived. He replied that he
lived in a little cabin in an impoverished district of the
city near the river bank. This was something of a surprise to
the man.
With more interest, he
inquired, "Well, who lives with
you?"
The boy answered,
"Only Jim. Jim is crippled and can't do no work. He's my
pal."
Now clearly astounded
that the child appeared to be supporting not only himself, but
also someone who was unable to contribute any income, the man
noted, "You'd be better off without Jim, wouldn't
you?"
The answer came with
not a little scorn ~ a sermon in a
nutshell:
"No, sir, I couldn't spare Jim. I wouldn't have
nobody to go home to. An' say, Mister, I wouldn't want to live
and work with nobody to divide with, would
you?"
~Author Unknown
" . . . for the LORD seeth
not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." 1Samuel
16:7
Go oft to the house of thy friend ~ for weeds
choke the unused path. ~ R. Emerson
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