It was a blessing to attend a Christian boarding high school. It was a co-ed school and each dormitory employed a Dean. I remember the Dean of Men as being an especially helpful and Christian man. One specific trait was that he was especially tidy. It was his style to be clean and neatly pressed and he appreciated the school looking tidy as well. During a dorm evening-worships it was common to hear him especially emphasize: "If we all pitch-in and pick-up trash, the school would be cleaner and always presentable." It wasn't rocket-science and the school wasn't especially untidy but some young men seemed to have a knack for littering. Of course this trash-tossing habit tends to spoil the view of many. One bad peach DOES spoil (eventually) the whole basket. One wind-strewn Windscript (school paper) DOES spoil the view!
A day after emphasizing to us the need to stop and pick-up papers and trash, a few of us were in the hallway chatting with the Dean. There on the floor, just 20 ft. from us sat a half page of notebook paper. The Dean walked over and picked it up, walked to his desk, opened his wallet and taped a $5.00 bill to the paper. He then walked over to floor and laid the paper (money-side down) on the floor! He advised, "None of you guys touch this. Let's see who will do a good deed and be rewarded!"
Several guys walked by the legal tender 'trash'. Some men stood by it. One guy stepped on it. Everybody was caught-up in their own world; their own zone. Their VIEW was barely beyond their own noses. Five dollars might not seem like a lot but when the possibility of receiving an unexpected gift happens, it tends to spice up your day!
As we all watched, the excitement grew within us. Somebody surely would remember the Dean's litter emphasis!! But NOBODY took the time to bend down and do a good deed. When it seemed as if the trash would remain on the floor and the money undiscovered, a rather quiet, unassuming guy strolled by, bent down, grabbed the paper and turned it over. The look on his face was absolute joy! The Dean said, "That's yours. Keep it. Thanks for cleaning up the view."
Thirty plus years later I am still casually picking up pieces of trash all in the effort of improving the view. (I always turn it over.)
Yesterday, I drove to the grocery store, parked and walked across the parking lot. On the ground was a rectangular 3 X 5 piece of paper. Yes, I bent down and picked it up.....turned it over. It was a lottery scratch-off ticket that HAD NOT been scratched!!! It read, "Scratch and win up to $100,000.00!!!! I've never purchased a lottery scratch-off ticket but it didn't take me long to start **scratching!!!
After my visit to the grocery store, I drove to the park to go for a jog. I picked up some scattered pieces of paper on the ground (after all these years, it's a habit) and jogged to the next trash-bin, opened it and there sat $7.00 screaming, "ME! ME! Take ME!"
Although I encourage ALL to "Keep Your Head Up"! I also encourage everyone to watch where you are stepping AND clean up just around YOU! You never know how you will be rewarded!
Thanks Dean! You taught me to change my view AND the view of many others!!
~Pray /\
~Stefan
**No. I didn't win a dime!! But.... my view continues to change!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment