Being great in little things
Another great story that came into my mail. Greatness is neither fame nor notoriety. The service we render to others is Heaven's measure of our greatness.
President Reagan was in Alabama once and visited a special school for handicapped kids. He spoke for a few minutes before taking questions from the kids. These kids did not get a lot of human contact, and they might have spent their brief childhood without many people listening to what they had to say or trying to make them feel important. And here was President Reagan taking questions, nodding along, answering the points, telling jokes, and conveying to the world that there was no place he would rather be that moment than right there, with them.
Then came a moment of terror. The last kid to ask the President a question had a severe speech impediment. He asked his question, and no one in the room could understand what was said. The staff froze. The teachers froze. The administrators - up to now all smiles - also froze. What was to have been an upbeat day was turning into a disaster. Instead of allowing these wonderful kids to forget about their handicap as they basked in the glowing presence of the great President, this kid was going to remind them of it.
The President rescued the situation. “I’m sorry,” he said with a smile, “but you know I have got this hearing aid in my ear. Every once in a while the darn thing just conks out on me. And it’s just gone dead. Sorry to put you through this again, but I’m going to ask one of my staff people to go over to you so you can tell him directly what your question is. Then he can pass the question back to me.”
The staff member threaded his way through the audience and had the kid slowly repeat the question. Once he was certain he understood it, he made his way back to Mr Reagan and restated it. So rather than make the kid feel small, the President brought his own handicap to the fore in helping the child out of his predicament.
This story was taken from an article published in The Straits Times on 10 June 2004. The writer was US Ambassador to Singapore, Frank Lavin at the time of print.
When God measures the greatness of an individual, He puts the tape measure around his heart not the head.
Author Unknown
Author Unknown
President Reagan was in Alabama once and visited a special school for handicapped kids. He spoke for a few minutes before taking questions from the kids. These kids did not get a lot of human contact, and they might have spent their brief childhood without many people listening to what they had to say or trying to make them feel important. And here was President Reagan taking questions, nodding along, answering the points, telling jokes, and conveying to the world that there was no place he would rather be that moment than right there, with them.
Then came a moment of terror. The last kid to ask the President a question had a severe speech impediment. He asked his question, and no one in the room could understand what was said. The staff froze. The teachers froze. The administrators - up to now all smiles - also froze. What was to have been an upbeat day was turning into a disaster. Instead of allowing these wonderful kids to forget about their handicap as they basked in the glowing presence of the great President, this kid was going to remind them of it.
The President rescued the situation. “I’m sorry,” he said with a smile, “but you know I have got this hearing aid in my ear. Every once in a while the darn thing just conks out on me. And it’s just gone dead. Sorry to put you through this again, but I’m going to ask one of my staff people to go over to you so you can tell him directly what your question is. Then he can pass the question back to me.”
The staff member threaded his way through the audience and had the kid slowly repeat the question. Once he was certain he understood it, he made his way back to Mr Reagan and restated it. So rather than make the kid feel small, the President brought his own handicap to the fore in helping the child out of his predicament.
This story was taken from an article published in The Straits Times on 10 June 2004. The writer was US Ambassador to Singapore, Frank Lavin at the time of print.
posted by Roughneck Leo at 8:23 PM
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