Pink Ping Pong Balls:
Once upon a time, there was a young child who was having difficulty in school. His father sat him down one afternoon to find out what his problem was, and to give him a bit of a pep talk. During the talk he promises his son to give him a gift of the son's choosing if he gets good grades in school. The son agrees, and really buckles down.
At the end of the year, his final report card arrives, and the kid has earned straight A's. The father keeps his promise, and asks his son what he would like for his effort. The son tells him he wants a pink ping pong ball. The father, slightly confused, complies.
As the son grows older, he discovers girls, but is very shy and won't talk to any of them. His father realizes that he needs to socialize, and again offers him an incentive to talk to the girl his son has a crush on. The son does talk to her, and informs his father that he wants ten pink ping bong balls this time. His father is still befuddled, but once again complies with his son's request.
As the son is going through high school, he falls in with some bad company, and begins to behave recklessly. He is caught with drugs and alcohol, and the father realizes he again must step in and help his son. He recommends a good hobby to his son, and offers to help him find one that interests him and help him get involved. His son agrees, and asks for 100 pink ping pong balls to get started. The father has no idea what to make of this, but as long as it is helping his son stay on the straight and narrow, he agrees.
Eventually the son graduates and goes to college. The father finds that his son is lacking motivation, and is skipping class and partying too much, and that his grades are slipping. Once again, the father steps in and tries to get his son back on track, offering him his choice graduation presents if the son will graduate with a 3.5 GPA or higher. The son feels that this is a reasonable goal to meet, and goes about his schooling with a more serious intent. Eventually he does graduate, and at his party, he tells his dad he would like 1,000 pink ping pong balls. The son also tells his dad how grateful he is for his involvement in his life, and that he has decided to go to law school.
The father is terribly excited about this, and it doesn't matter a whit to him that his son wants 1,000 pink ping pong balls for a college graduation present.
As the son is progressing through law school, his father notices that he is working hard and is very serious about his learning. His father is so proud that his son has finally figured things out, and perhaps listened to the advice that he gave his son, that he wants to reward his son for all his accomplishments, and help him get his practice started. As his bar exam approaches, he asks his son what would be the biggest help to him. His son tells him that he really sure could use 1,000,000 pink ping pong balls. His dad is very, very confused, and wants to know just what his son plans to do with a million pink ping pong balls. The son grins and tells him that he has a really great plan that will make them all lots of money. The son suggests that they go out to dinner to celebrate, and he'll explain the entire plan to them at dinner. His father agrees.
They go out to a nice restaurant, and during the course of the dinner, the son chokes on a fish bone, and dies.
_________________ Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!
|