[Teachldsseminary] Judge Not

[Don & Dee Yeager]

"I'm looking for stories or examples about not judging. If you have a
favorite..."

Here's a favorite I received from a friend a few years ago.  The author
is given.  I don't know the printed source, but I think the story could
be easily checked out.

You Just Never Know
Malcolm Forbes

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun,
threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly
without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer
office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks
had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in
Cambridge.  She frowned.

"We want to see the president," the man said softly.  "He'll be busy all
day," the secretary snapped.  "We'll wait," the lady replied.  For
hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally
become discouraged and go away.  They didn't and the secretary grew
frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it
was a chore she always regretted.

"Maybe, if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told
him.  He sighed in exasperation and nodded.  Someone of his importance
obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested
gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern-faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year.  He
loved Harvard.  He was happy here.  But about a year ago, he was
accidentally killed.  My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to
him somewhere on campus."  The president wasn't touched.He was shocked.
"Madam," he said gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who
has attended Harvard and died.  If we did, this place would look like a
cemetery."  "Oh, No," the lady explained quickly.  "We don't want to
erect a statue.  We thought we would like to give a building to
Harvard."  The president rolled his eyes.  He glanced at the gingham
dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building!  Do you have any
earthly idea how much a building costs?  We have over seven and a half
million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent.  The president was pleased.  Maybe he
could get rid of them now.  The lady turned to her husband and said
quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university?  Why don't we just
start our own?"  Her husband nodded.  The president's face wilted in
confusion and bewilderment.

Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo
Alto, California where they established the university that bears their
name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.  You can
easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they
think can do nothing for them or to them.


Dee
AZ