How much does prayer weigh?
Posted by: tz8cy5 <tz8cy5@...>
Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look
of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store.
She approached the owner of the store in a most
humble manner and asked if he would let her charge
a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband
was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children
and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer,
scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store.
Visualizing the family needs,she said: 'Please, sir! I
will bring you the money just as soon as I can."
John told her he could not give her credit, as she did
not have a charge account at his store.Standing beside
the counter was a customer who overheard the
conversation between the two. The customer walked
forward and told the grocerman that he would stand
good for whatever she needed for her family.
The grocerman said in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have
a grocery list?
Louise replied "Yes sir" "O.K." he said, "put your
grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery
list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries."
Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then
she reached into her purse and took out a piece of
paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid
the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her
head still bowed. The eyes of the grocerman and the
customer showed amazement when the scales went down
and stayed down. The grocerman staring at the scales,
turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly,
"I can't believe it."
The customer smiled and the grocerman started putting
the groceries on the other side of the scales. The
scale did not balance so he continued to put more and
more groceries on them until the scales wouldhold no more.
The grocerman stood there in utter disgust.
Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and
looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery
list, it was a prayer which said: "Dear Lord, you know my
needs and I am leaving this in your hands."
The grocerman gave her the groceries that he had
gathered and placed on the scales and stood in
stunned silence.
Louise thanked him and left the store.
The customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to John as he
said, "It was worth every penny of it." It was sometime
later that John Longhouse discovered the scales were
broken; therefore, only God knows how much a prayer
weighs.