A college professor told of being invited to speak at a military base one December. On arriving, he met an unforgettable soldier named Ralph. Ralph had been sent to meet him at the airport. After they introduced themselves, they headed toward baggage claim.
As they walked the concourse, Ralph kept momentarily disappearing. Once it was to help an older woman whose suitcase had opened up. Once it was to lift two toddlers up to where they could see Santa. Another time it was to give directions to someone who was lost.
Each time, he would return with a big smile on his face. “Where did you learn to live like that?” the professor asked.
“During the war, I guess.” Then Ralph told the professor about his tour of duty in Vietnam. He described his job – clearing minefields. He said he had watched friends be blown up before his eyes – one after another.
“I learned to live between the steps,” he said. “I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I learned to get everything I could out of the moment between when I picked up my foot and when I put it down again. Every step I took was a whole new world. And I guess I’ve just been that way ever since.”
As they walked the concourse, Ralph kept momentarily disappearing. Once it was to help an older woman whose suitcase had opened up. Once it was to lift two toddlers up to where they could see Santa. Another time it was to give directions to someone who was lost.
Each time, he would return with a big smile on his face. “Where did you learn to live like that?” the professor asked.
“During the war, I guess.” Then Ralph told the professor about his tour of duty in Vietnam. He described his job – clearing minefields. He said he had watched friends be blown up before his eyes – one after another.
“I learned to live between the steps,” he said. “I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I learned to get everything I could out of the moment between when I picked up my foot and when I put it down again. Every step I took was a whole new world. And I guess I’ve just been that way ever since.”
I want to be a person who lives between the steps. I am adding this to my list I made earlier in the year that included "taking every thought captive."
2 comments:
And it was a very good sermon, as usual. The problem I have is that I have a tendency to sit and
"analyze" points you make in your sermons that I find personally applicable or compelling, and I end up missing the next part. I think it must be geriatric HDAD. Keep up the good work, "teach".
I love stories like this. Thanks for sharing.
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