The Great Scientist

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. Aldous Leonard Huxley

I recently heard a story from Stephen Glenn about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical break-throughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to do so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?
He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor-a veritable sea of milk!
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?"
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?". He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, "You know what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with tiny hands. Lets go out in the backyard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it". The little hands learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson.
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, new after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment 'doesn't work', we usually learn something valuable from it.
Wouldn't it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert's mother responded to him?

Jack Canfield

The Flower

"I have many flowers," he said,"but the most beautiful flowers of my garden are children."
Oscar Wilde

For some time I have had a person to provide me with a rose boutonniere to pin on the lapel of my suit every Sunday. Because I always got a flower on Sunday morning, I really did not think much of it. It was a nice gesture that I appreciated, but it became a routine.One Sunday however, what I considered ordinary became special.
As i was leaving for the Sunday service a young man approached me. He walked right up to me and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first I did not know what he was talking about, but i then i understood. I said,"Do you mean this?" as I pointed to the rose pinned to my coat.
He said, "Yes sir I would like it if you are just going to throw it away." At this point I smiled and gladly told him that he could have my flower, casually asking him what he was going to do with it. The little boy was probably less than 10 years old, looked up at me and said,"Sir. I'm going to give it to my granny. My mother and father got divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again she wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn't stay, so he sent me to my Grandma. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that i want to give her that pretty flower for loving me."
When the little boy finished I could hardly speak. My eyes filled with tears and I knew i had been touched in the depths of my soul. I reached up and unpinned my flower. With the flower in my hand, I looked at the boy and said, "Son, that is the nicest thing i've ever heard, but you cant have this flower because its not enough. If you'll look in front of the pulpit, you'll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best."
If I hadn't been touched enough already, he made one last statement and I will always cherish it. He said, "What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet."
Pastor J.R Ramsey