I know it's just an Internet story that gets passed around. I know people will write and say, "I checked Snopes and Snopes says it's not true." And my response in advance is, "I don't care." The details of this story may not be true, but I know service members, and I am a service member, and the spirit of this story is true, if the exact details aren't....so I'm putting it up on my blog....
Just Stay
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
"Your son is here," she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lightedward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.
Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.
"Who was that man?" he asked.
The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.
"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."
"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"
"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed. I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His Son was Killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name?"
The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, "Mr. William Grey........"
The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.
**************
WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
PLEASE PASS THIS ONE ON AND GOD WILL BLESS YOU!
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE PUT ON THIS EARTH TO DO ANYWAY. RIGHT ?
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE WAY TODAY!
GOD IS SO GOOD.
___________________
As we say in my church....God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good.
I didn't need Snopes to see through this one, and I'd sure hate to be in a position to have to justify using falsehood in order to convince people that what I tell them is the truth! With that we come to yet another instance of my favorite example of why I have never considered adding religion (spirituality) to my life (already made rich by my own homegrown sense of morality).
ReplyDeleteHere's my point: This blogger care that the story is not true. (In other words, it matters not to him that a falsehood was designed and disseminaited solely for the purpose of being a very effective sales pitch for religion.)
Like much of the emotionally charged trickery that goes around, this one was so full of contrivances that I found it almost impossible to get past them to appreciate its value as a myth. From the start, this is falsehood, presented as truth, that it might persuade a few to sign up or reenlist (to use a military metaphor).
It's not actually a sales pitch for religion. Atheism has so tainted your soul that you can't see the human aspect of one human being there for another human even though they didn't know that human. I know Military men that would do that. And I'm surprised in this day and age of political correctness, with a blog name of LORIANN that you would call me HIM. It proves that Atheists are sexist. Not all veterans are MEN. And for someone who has a blog entitled Positive Atheist, you sure tear someone up.
ReplyDeleteI am a veteran too,.. and this would never happen.. 1st and formost,.. the soldiers (plural) that came to tell the man his son died would have on dress uniforms with name tags,. 2nd they would have addressed themselves as the group informing the family. 3rd,... they would've never been let into the hospital like that.. 4th Oxygen 'tent'? what is this 1909?
ReplyDeleteoh p.s. the nurse would've been fired for H.I.P.A.A. violations
you can jump up and down and say I know soldiers and this could have happened.. I say you don't know crap... quit spreading lies around the internet
Johnny, thank you for an intelligent response. Like most internet stories, I have to admit, it tugged at my heart more than anything. It is the only "story" on my blog. It seems funny to me that none of my blogs that are facts get responses, and the one story that I chose to put up that I didn't write gets responses. I guess no one can find fault with stuff I actually write myself.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I did check Snopes, and they have nothing whatsoever regarding this story.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I agree that it doesn't matter if the story is true, the truth and moral behind it are important ones that people need to be exposed to.
Third, the practice of using unfactual stories to expose people to important truths and morals is at least as old as Aesop, and no one accused him of spreading lies, not only around the world, but over the millenia!
Fourth, I am also a veteran (1973 - 1977) and don't care if the events would never happen. It's still a great story that deeply moved me.
Loriann, you go, girl!
Thank you, Jay. I'm learning that Snopes is a very left leaning media. They report what they want to. I know that men/women who have spent time in the military, no matter what branch, seem to have more honor and integrity. And thanks for the very intelligent argument.
ReplyDeleteSnopes is left leaning?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOr maybe most of the stories that are false are used to perpetuate conservative agendas and thus, seem leftist when debunked?
DeleteFirst, a marine would do just that. It's a touching story that probably represents many true situations. But, for the doubters, Loriann, share this one: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1602699606013&set=a.1532222044118.62951.1791791173&type=1&ref=nf
ReplyDeleteThat's an Airforce Chief Master Sergeant, but the sentiment is still the same, and represents the vast majority of our wonderful soldiers! G-d Bless each and everyone of them!
And, yes, Jay is correct. It doesn't show up on Snopes. Also, Snopes, UrbanLegends, and others do have a very far left view. I've seen real situations that they have stated were "false" because a MINOR detail was no accurate (a name, or exact location, or minor detail in facts - but the story and the warning valid).
G-d Bless you, Loriann for standing up for our Soldiers, who give/gave their LIVES for every one of us, including these people who come on here and slam them! Shame on them!
Nobody was slamming our service men and women...they were simply pointing out the fact that using 'lies' to get a positive result is still a lie.
ReplyDeleteLike I said before, I find it interesting that no one comments on articles I discover about this regime, like Obama being in Indonesia during the time of the Indonesian purge of communists, or anything I write on health care, but they can attack an article that I found touching and decided to add. I guess these are the same people who would have attacked Jesus for using parables to illustrate morals. I am NOT comparing myself to Jesus, for you liberals out there. I am saying that it's been used for a long time to illustrate something. Nobody complained that President Obama used a "composite" girl friend to illustrate "racsm" in America.
ReplyDeleteWho cares if the story is true? It's not being passed off as true. We grew up reading books, watching TV, and going to the movies...most of what we read and watched being fiction. Fiction or not, those things helped shape us into the people we are today. We saw good people, bad people, heroes and villians. We read and saw people we wanted to be like. If you cannot read this fictional story and find somebody in it you want to be like, then I feel sorry for you.
ReplyDeleteLoriann I liked the story, it's very touching. To be honest I didn't think it was a true story, but found the value in it nonetheless. I've noticed anything that you put on the Internet is subject to criticism from know it alls who consider themselves intellectually superior for the fact that they can shed a negative light on anything positive. Don't let it get under your skin, they are especially aggressive with it on the Internet. You'll see them call themselves catchy terms like "critical thinkers" or "Progressives". Also they like to say they are "putting things into perspective". The reality, however, is they do not know god. They don't want to. They are angered by anyone who claims to and want you to adopt their emptiness. It will always be out there, don't ever let them bully you into posting something you find touching as it is likely others will find it the same. They just don't tend to be as vocal as the atheists.
ReplyDeleteSomeone who paints such broad generalizations should be ashamed of themselves. I pity your ignorance.
DeleteI don't know how many times and in how many different ways I can say this for the liberals out there to understand. None of my political posts can be refuted, but you choose a fictitional story that was used as a picture of grace and understanding that our miliary exhibits every day to tear apart. I personally know people who Snopes has said some story was false, which was true. If it throws a bad light on the military, post it. If it makes Obama look bad, it's false. If it makes the military look good, it's false. Snopes is owned by George Soros. I see the left trying really hard to debunk a lot of thing Obama has done, and then slinking off into a corner to announce late on a Friday that they didn't find anything. For those that have already drunk the Kool Aid of the left, there is nothing else I can say to you. You are too far gone.
ReplyDeleteThis story has nothing to do with God. It's a story about exceptionally wonderful human compassion.
ReplyDeleteActually, anyone can see God in what they want to see God in. It doesn't have to be about God, I happened to like the story because I know military men who would do just that. I intended it to be a break from politics and a touching story to post on my site.
ReplyDeleteIve seen fake internet stories used to promote Jesus or war against the arabs. , patriotism , etc. It's a bad idea in the long run, truth works much better.
ReplyDeletePlus, they often end with "God will bless you, if you pass this on
ReplyDeleteto ten other people", a good reason NOT to pass it on. Stating that
God will bless you for passing on possible fiction. WRONG (more akin to witchcraft than Christianity)
Here is a 5 minute short film of this very powerful story
ReplyDeleteby filmmaker and actor Philip Paz
http://vimeo.com/89271746