The Touchstone

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.

The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day; however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

HUMOR

Identity

A certain little girl, when asked her name, would reply, “I’m Mr Sugarbrown’s daughter.” Her mother told her this was wrong, she must say, “I’m Jane Sugarbrown.”

The Vicar spoke to her in Sunday School and said, “Aren’t you Mr Sugarbrown’s daughter?”

She replied, “I thought I was, but mother says I’m not.”

Three Things Happen

“As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two...”

—Sir Norman Wisdom

The Anesthesiologist

Jill received a bill from the hospital for her recent surgery, and was astonished to see a $900 fee for the anesthesiologist. She called his office to demand an explanation. “Is this some kind of mistake?” Jill asked when she got the doctor on the phone. “No, not at all,” the doctor said calmly.

“Well,” said Jill, “that’s awfully costly for knocking someone out.” “Not at all,” replied the doctor. “I knock you out for free. The 900 dollars is for bringing you back around.”