The Other Side of The Door

A very sick man, visiting a small-town clinic, turned to his doctor, as he was leaving the room after paying a visit, and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." 

Very quietly the doctor said, "I don't know." 

"You don't know?" the man said. 

"You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door, on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining. As he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. 

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear."

"I know little of what is on the other side of death," the doctor continued, "but I do know one thing: I know my Master is there, and that is enough. And when the door opens, I shall pass through with no fear, but with gladness."

Applauding Own Speech

A colleague was invited to make a speech in Japan. Aware of his reputation as a very good speaker, he was surprised that his audience did not react at all to any of his perfectly timed jokes and witticisms. In fact, the audience did not react to anything he said.

Somewhat put down, he went back to his seat and a Japanese gentleman appeared on the stage. This man had a terrific success! People laughed and applauded, and although the original speaker could not understand one bit of what was said, still he started to applaud, as the man evidently deserved praise for this perfect speech.

He was interrupted by the chairman of the conference, "No no, sir. You must not applaud."

Dumbfounded, he protested: "But why? This man is obviously a very good speaker."

"No sir, you must not applaud. He is translating your speech."

The message is when you communicate, it's not only important to have a very powerful message and content, it's more important that the audience must be able to understand what you are trying to say.

Good communication is making sure the person, who is  receiving your message, can fully understand you.

A Very Small Prayer

One evening in September I took my 13-year-old son to see a St. Louis Cardinal's baseball game. I was given two free tickets for bleacher seats from my work, what a blessing! So I picked up my son at home and hurried back to the ballpark. We we're going early to watch batting practice. I told Nathaniel that from the bleachers, we might be able to get a souvenir baseball hit to us.

Well, there were a lot of balls falling around us, but that's just it, around us. Some on the left, some on the right, some in front of us, but nothing we could reach. And then it happened! A batted ball landed right at my feet. It did a double ricochet between the ground and the seat and blasted out from under there about 8 feet high right into the boy's glove. Unfortunately for me, the boy wasn't Nathaniel. The ball had bounced about ten rows in front of us. At the very moment the ball hit, I was distracted and looking to my right. I didn't even see it!

Well, that's it, I thought. You don't get another chance like that at the same game. So I settled in with just about ten minutes left of batting practice content with the game we were about to see. But there was another home run ball hit in the section to the right of us some twenty-five feet away. An elderly attendant got the ball when it landed, and signaled pointing with his finger that he wanted Nathaniel to have the baseball.

I was delighted and perplexed. We hadn't been talking with this man. He wasn't an attendant for our section. And there were about ten kids all excited and hopping up and down hoping for the ball. Nathaniel wasn't even close enough to be with the other kids. He was another six feet in back of them. But the attendant picked Nathaniel. I thought to myself, what luck! We have our souvenir!

It wasn't until the middle of the third inning that the significance of what I had just witnessed hit me. It was then that Nathaniel leaned over to me and said, "You know dad, I prayed before we got here that I would be able to get a baseball." Whir . Bang! My head must've made that noise as all at once my brain suddenly comprehended what my eyes had seen. What I had dismissed as a bit of good luck surely had a divine design!

This event has reinforced for me that God hears our smallest of prayers. Maybe even that's wrong, maybe there's not any such thing as a "small" prayer to God. And no request seems too trivial when asked in sincerity with the heart of child. Nathaniel has the proof! It weighs five ounces and has a leather cover sewn with double stitch 10/5 red thread. 🙏