Paying forward - Winston Churchill’s Survival

One day, a wealthy English family invited some friends over to spend some time at their beautiful estate. However, the happy gathering almost turned into a terrible tragedy on the first day, because when the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning.

The gardener, hearing the others screaming, immediately plunged into the pool to rescue the helpless victim. That youngster was Winston Churchill. His parents, deeply grateful to the gardener, asked what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, "I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor." "We'll pay his way," replied Churchill's parents.  

Years later, when Sir Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. Greatly concerned, King George VI summoned the best physician who could be found to the bedside of the ailing leader. That doctor was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Sir Winston Churchill from drowning as a boy!

A gift you can’t buy

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

A heavy splash was followed by many ripples and then the water below the pier was still. David Morse, a missionary crouched on the low Indian pier. His eyes were riveted to the water, straining to see his Indian friend swimming in the deep. In a moment a dark head appeared. Then the old Indian pearl diver clambered on to the dock, grinning as he shook off the water. “This will be a good one,” said Rambhau, handing a large oyster to David Morse.

Prying open the shell, David exclaimed, 

“Have you ever seen a better pearl! It’s perfect, isn’t it?” 

“There are better pearls, much better. Why, I have one that...” 

Rambhau’s voice trailed off. “See this - the black speck here, and that tiny dent. It’s just as you say about your God. People look perfect to themselves, but God sees all the imperfections.”