Proper 20
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series II, Cycle C
One Sunday morning on a subway car in New York City people were traveling in relative peace and calm. They were reading their newspapers and were daydreaming out the window. At one stop the door opened and in stepped a man and his children. Instantly the peace and calm were destroyed by the behavior of the children. The children were running up and down the aisle. They were throwing things and screaming at the same time. The calm of a few minutes earlier was now absolute chaos.
To make matters even worse, the father of the children was not even aware of the upset that his children were causing. He just sat there staring out the window as if nothing were wrong. Finally, one of the passengers could not take it anymore. Someone had to do something. So the passenger got up and went over to the father of the children and said, "Sir, your children are causing a great deal of turbulence on this car. Do you think that you could try to control them?" Upon hearing those words the man came to life and responded, saying, "I am so sorry. I will try to calm them. We just came from the hospital. You see, their mother died this morning and they probably don't know what to do." Immediately, the passenger's attitude changed dramatically. What was it that changed his outlook? It was the truth. Because of the truth he moved from anger and hostility to an attitude of compassion and mercy. Truth changes everything.
Source: Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York City: Simon & Schuster), p. 30.
To make matters even worse, the father of the children was not even aware of the upset that his children were causing. He just sat there staring out the window as if nothing were wrong. Finally, one of the passengers could not take it anymore. Someone had to do something. So the passenger got up and went over to the father of the children and said, "Sir, your children are causing a great deal of turbulence on this car. Do you think that you could try to control them?" Upon hearing those words the man came to life and responded, saying, "I am so sorry. I will try to calm them. We just came from the hospital. You see, their mother died this morning and they probably don't know what to do." Immediately, the passenger's attitude changed dramatically. What was it that changed his outlook? It was the truth. Because of the truth he moved from anger and hostility to an attitude of compassion and mercy. Truth changes everything.
Source: Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York City: Simon & Schuster), p. 30.
