Religious Stories

Religious Stories

"Keep Your Fork"

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order," she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

"There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "What's that?" came the pastor's reply. "This is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say. "That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor. The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder "What's with the fork?'. Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork - the best is yet to come".

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming. At the funeral people were walking by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question "What's with the fork?" And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you, oh so gently, that the best is yet to come.

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND even if it means sending back to the person who sent it to you.

An INTERVIEW with GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.
 "Come in," God said to me, "So, you would like to interview Me?"
        "If you have the time," I said.

        God smiled and said:  "My time is called eternity and is enough to
do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"
        "None that are new to you. What's the one thing that surprises
you most about mankind?"

        God answered:  "That they get bored of being children, are in a
rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.  That they lose their
health to make money and then  lose their money to restore their health.
That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such
that they live neither for the present nor the future.
        That they live as if they will never die, 
and they die as if they had never lived..."

        God's hands took mine and we were silent.  
After a long period, I said,  "May I ask you another question?"
"As a Parent, what would you ask  your children to do?"

        God replied with a smile: 

"To learn that they cannot make anyone love them.  
What they can do is to let themselves be loved.
        To learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to
destroy it.
        To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their
lives, but who they have in their lives.
        To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.
There will be others better or worse than they are.
        To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is
one who needs the least.
        To learn that they should control their attitudes, otherwise their
attitudes will control them.
        To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound
wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.
        To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.
        To learn that there are persons that love them dearly, but simply
do not know how to show their feelings.
        To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.
        To learn that while at times they may be entitled to be upset, that
does not give them the right to upset those around them.
        To learn that great dreams do not require great wings, but a
landing gear to achieve.
        To learn that true friends are scarce, he/she who has found one
has found a true treasure.
        To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by
others, but that they forgive themselves.
        To learn that they are masters of what they keep to themselves
and slaves of what they say.
        To learn that they shall reap what they plant; if they plant gossip
they will harvest intrigues, if they plant love they will harvest
happiness.
        To learn that true happiness is not to achieve their goals but to
learn to be satisfied with what they already achieved.
        To learn that happiness is a decision.   They decide to be happy
with what they are and have, or die from envy and jealousy of what
they lack.
        To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see
something totally different.
        To learn that those who are honest with themselves without
considering the consequences go far in life.
        To learn that even though they may think they have nothing to
give, when a friend cries with them, they find the strength to appease
the pain.
        To learn that by trying to hold on to loved ones, they very quickly
push them away; and by letting go of those they love, they will be side
by side forever.
        To learn that even though the word "love" has many different
meanings, it loses its value when it is overstated.

READ THIS - LET IT REALLY SINK IN THEN

CHOOSE HOW YOU START YOUR DAY

        Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

        He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

        Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

        Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it."

        "Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

        "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

        "Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut
away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react
to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose
to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how
you live life."

        I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

        Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

        I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

        I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

        "The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

        "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I as going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read "he's a dead man." I knew I needed to take action."

        "What did you do?" I asked.

        "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything."

        "Yes, I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity.' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

        Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Trust in God and he will stand by you!

"Thank you, Jesus"

        I hurried into the local department store to grab some last-minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever, and I just had so much to do. Christmas was beginning to become such a drag. I wished that I could just sleep through Christmas. But I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy department. Once again, I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys. And I wondered if the grandkids would even play with them. I found myself in the doll aisle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy, about 5 years old, holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her hair, and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was for.

        I watched him turn to a woman; and he called his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I don't have enough money?" She replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it." The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere, that she had to go get some other things and would be back in a few minutes. And then she left the aisle.

        The boy continued to hold the doll. After a bit, I asked the boy who the doll was for. He said, "It is the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that Santa would bring it." I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. He said, "No, Santa can't go where my sister is. I have to give the doll to my Mamma to take to her." I asked him where his sister was? He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "She has gone to be with Jesus." "My Daddy says that Mama is going to have to go be with her." My heart nearly stopped beating. Then the boy looked at me again and said, "I told my Daddy to tell Mama not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store."

        Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would love to. He pulled out some pictures he had taken at the front of the store. He said, "I want my Mamma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me. I love my Mama so very much, and I wish she did not have to leave me. But Daddy says she will need to be with my sister." I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet. While he was not looking, I reached into my purse and pulled out a handful of bills. I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one more time". He grew excited and said, "Yes, I just know it has to be enough." So I slipped my money in with his, and we began to count it. Of course, it was plenty for the doll. He softly said, "Thank you, Jesus, for giving me enough money." Then the boy said, "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so Mama can take it with her to give to my sister. And He heard my prayer. I wanted to ask Him for enough to buy my Mamma a white rose, but I didn't ask Him; but He gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Mama. She loves white roses so very, very much."

        In a few minutes the aunt came back, and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl, and the Mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story. Two days later, I read in the paper where the family had disconnected the life support; and the young woman had died. I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself; and I went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home where the young woman was. And there she was, holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store. I left the funeral parlor in tears ... my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was overwhelming.