Follow Your Stars
"Learn to say no," said Charles Spurgeon. "It will be of more use to
you than to be able to read Latin."
One educator used to say that no society can last long unless it has a
quorum of "unpurchasable people." These are people of principle who
cannot be bought; people who have learned to say no. I believe that
these so-called unpurchasable people are the truly contented and
fulfilled souls around us.
In Whitney Seymour's book MAKING A DIFFERENCE (New York: William
Morrow and Co., Inc., 1984), Arthur McArthur, General Douglas
McArthur's father, told his son of such an unpurchasable man. This man
was a Union general in charge of the occupied territory surrounding
New Orleans toward the end of the American Civil War. He was pressed
by local plantation owners to permit them to haul their cotton to the
wharves in order for it to be sold for shipment to England. The
general controlled all the wagons and horses, and his orders from high
command in Washington were clear. He was not to let the cotton crop
get to market.
Then one day, when Colonel Arthur MacArthur was visiting the general,
two Southern ladies were ushered into the general's office, a "grande
dame" and a beautiful young companion. The older lady came right to
the point. She said that the landowners needed the temporary use of
transport facilities to move their cotton. The North did not wish to
force England into the war, she argued, and was allowing some merchant
ships to slip through the blockade. Therefore, the Union would not be
opposed to the sale of cotton for English textile mills. To show her
gratitude she handed over $250,000 in gold certificates. "And if you
need other inducements, this young lady will supply them," she added.
They departed, leaving behind a very distressed general holding the
beautiful young woman's address.
The general immediately ordered MacArthur to dispatch this message to
Washington: "TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I
have just been offered two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and the
most beautiful woman I have ever seen to betray my trust. I am
depositing the money with the Treasury of the United States,
and request immediate relief from this command. They are getting close
to my price."
Many others may have fallen for the seductive offer. And though his
decision was no doubt difficult to make, how much harder might his
life have eventually become had he chosen wrong? Saying yes to
contentment and peace often begins with saying no. For ultimately
happy lives are guided by unwavering principles, such as honesty,
trust and love. Those who keep sight of their principles and use them
as a guide in all their decision-making will eventually arrive at a
place of lasting peace.
"Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with
your hands," says Carl Schurz. "But like the (seafarers) on the desert
of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will
reach your destiny."
~ Steve Goodier ~
[ by: Steve Goodier (LifeSupport@yahoogroups.com) -- {used with permission} ]
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