Reece Gardner: Have you ever been perhaps a little too judgmental?

I remember a few years ago when I was expecting someone to come in for a very important meeting, and the time for the meeting came and he wasn't there. After a few minutes, I said to one of our associates, "I'll bet that guy will be late for his own funeral."

I then proceeded to get more agitated and declared, "There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior." After about an hour had passed, a call came in from a law enforcement officer who told us that this man had just risked his own life to save the life of a small child who had wandered onto a busy highway and would surely have been run over had not this "always late" gentleman rushed into oncoming traffic to save him.

Along these same lines of hasty judgment, Valerie Cox wrote the following article, which we will present to you in poetic form:

A woman was waiting at an airport one night several hours before her flight;

She bought a book and a bag of cookies in the airport shop, and then she found a place to drop;

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see that the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be, grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between, which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene;

So she munched the cookies, and watched the clock, as the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock;

she was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by, thinking "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye;"

With each cookie she took, he took one too, and when only one was left she wondered what he would do;

With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half;

As he ate the other, she snatched it from him and thought, oooh brother;

This guy has some nerve and he's also rude, why he didn't show any gratitude;

She couldn't recall when she had been so galled, and she sighed with relief when her flight was called;

She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look back at this thieving ingrate;

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, then sought her book which was almost complete;

As she reached for her luggage, she gasped with surprise, there was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes.

"If mine are here," she moaned in despair, "Then the others were his which he tried to share."

Too late to apologize, she realized with grief, that SHE was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

So, folks, let's look for the good in others. It isn't hard to find.

Now to close on a humorous note:

Two old friends met for lunch. Jake & Oliver hadn't seen each other for 20 years.

"How have you been?" Oliver asked.

"I've been fine," Jake replied, ordering from the menu.

"I'm married with two great kids. Work is a bit dull but it pays the bills. How about you, how have you been?"

Oliver puffed up his chest in pride and said, "Well, I've been great. I've spent the last 20 years living the dream. I moved out from living with my parents early, and I was lucky enough to be in a privileged position so that I didn't need to work. I've spent most of my time with hobbies like reading and going to the gym. Money isn't an issue with me and my life is filled with Wine, Women, and Song!"

Jake couldn't help but listen and feel a little envious about Oliver living the "Good Life" for the past 20 years.

The two friends parted after lunch. Later that night Jake was having dinner with his family when the phone rang.

"Excuse me,," a voice asked, "Is this Jake?" Jake replied, "Yes it is. How can I help you?"

"I'm trying to track down Oliver, and you're listed as one of his contacts," the voice continued. "Okay, can I ask who this is?"

To which the voice replied, "This is Oliver's Parole Officer!"

HAVE A GREAT DAY!