Those who matter.

I spent a lovely afternoon with my family yesterday the golf been ruled out due to the weather. Instead, we gathered around the table at my sones and had a bowl of warming soup that he had made. We talked about many things but mostly about my daughters trip to India from which she had just returned.

I sat back and felt a warm glow as I looked around at them because it had only been in the morning that I had read of a son who was talking his parents to court for bad parenting. He was taking them to court to pay for his psychiatrist fees. 

Somewhere something had gone very badly wrong. 

There is an old tale of two paddleboats and the crews. 

They left harbour about the same time, travelling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail's pace of the other. 

Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. 

Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the deep and rapid waters.

One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. 

They ended up winning the race but burned their cargo. 

When we decide to bring children into this world we are agreeing to take care of this precious cargo as we do also when we decide to make our home with another, we agree to take care of one another like a precious cargo. So it is with friendships. If we agree to be friends then we are in a sense agreeing to take care of one another. 

Our job is to do our part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination by equipping them with what it takes to make the journey. 

When other things take priority over people, people often suffer. 

How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? 

How many people never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive captain?

THose who we are bound to are the most precious of cargos and it is the most wonderful thing on earth to see them making a good journey and returning into the fold from time to time to renew and refresh relationships.

Light a little candle for those who cherish you and for those you cherish. Have a marvellous day.