ONE SOLITARY LIFE!!!

HE WAS BORN IN AN OBSCURE VILLAGE, THE CHILD OF A PEASANT. HE GREW UP IN ANOTHER VILLAGE, WHERE HE WORKED IN A CARPENTER SHOP UNTIL HE WAS 30. THEN FOR 3 YEARS HE WAS AN ITINERANT PREACHER.

HE NEVER WROTE A BOOK. HE NEVER HELD AN OFFICE. HE NEVER HAD A FAMILY OR OWNED A HOME. HE DIDN'T GO TO COLLEGE. HE NEVER LIVED IN A BIG CITY. HE NEVER TRAVELED 200 MILES FROM THE PLACE WHERE HE WAS BORN.

HE DID NONE OF THE THINGS THAT USUALL ACCOMPANY GREATNESS. HE HAD NO CREDENTIALS BUT HIMSELF.

HE WAS ONLY 33 WHEN THE TIDE OF PUBLIC OPINION TURNED AGANINST HIM. HIS FRIENDS RAN AWAY. ONE OF THEM DENIED HIM. HE WAS TURNED OVER TO HIS ENEMIES AND WENT THROUGH THE MOCKERY OF A TRIAL. HE WAS NAILED TO A CROSS BETWEEN 2 THIEVES. WHILE HE WAS DYING HIS EXECUTIONERS GAMBLED FOR HIS GARMENTS, THE ONLY PROPERTY HE HAD ON EARTH. WHEN HE WAS DEAD, HE WAS LAID IN A BORROWED GRAVE, THROUGH THE PITY OF A FRIEND.

19 CENTURIES HAVE COME AND GONE, AND TODAY HE IS THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THE HUMAN RACE. I AM WELL WITHIN THE MARK WHEN I SAY THAT ALL THE ARMES THAT EVER MARCHED, ALL THE NAVIES THAT EVER SAILED, ALL THE PARLIAMENTS THAT EVER SAT, ALL THE KINGS THAT EVER REIGNED-PUT TOGETHER HAVE NOT AFFECTED THE LIFE OF MAN ON THIS EARTH AS MUCH AS THAT ONE, SOLITARY LIFE.

attributed to James Allen Francis

THIS STORY REMINDS ME OF ALL THE ADOPTING PARENTS. WE ARE ALSO TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE--ONE LIFE AT A TIME.

ONLY 19 DAYS!!!