The+Bean

New Abode One day during World War I, Winston Churchill visited France as a volunteer to observe the fighting first hand. In his sandbagged shelter at the front line, he was brought a message from a visiting general, a former acquaintance, who wanted to see him. Churchill was instructed to walk to a crossroads some three miles away, where a car would meet him. After waiting at the crossroads for nearly an hour, however, he was joined by one of the general's officers. The car had been sent to the wrong crossroads, the man explained, and it was now too late for any meeting to take place. Churchill, understandably peeved, began the long haul back to the trenches in the dark; then, as rain began to fall, he produced a stream of silent invective describing the thoughtless general. When he finally reached his camp, Churchill was astonished to find that his shelter had apparently disappeared. Five minutes after his departure, he learned, a shell had come through the roof, obliterating the structure and killing the man inside. "Suddenly I felt my irritation against General X pass completely from my mind," he later recalled. "All sense of grievance departed in a flash. As I walked to my new abode, I reflected how thoughtful it had been of him to wish to see me again, and to show courtesy to a subordinate when he had so much responsibility on his shoulders."

Churchhill, Winston. "New Abode." 28 Nov 2007 .

The Tombs

The famed evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody once visited a prison called "The Tombs" to preach to the inmates. After he had finished speaking, Moody visited a number of prisoners in their cells, asking each why he was there. Again and again he received similar replies: "I don't deserve to be here... I was framed... I was falsely accused... I was given an unfair trial..." No one admitted that he was guilty. At last, Moody found a weeping man holding his face in his hands and asked him what was wrong. "My sins are more than I can bear," the prisoner replied. So relieved was Moody to find an honest man at least that he unthinkingly exclaimed: "Thank God for that!"

Lyman, Dwight. "The Tombs ." 28 Nov 2007 .