True Stories that Inspire: A life of Substance
Posted: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
by Swapna Nanda
Many times we nurture low self-esteem looking at our figure, complexion, shape of the nose, or comparing with others wealth and status etc, etc. perhaps there are many things that we are not happy about ourselves. We reason by thinking if only my situation was different .. . But it is possible to live a successful and meaningful life. There is no failure within Gods will and no success outside the will of God.
There was an asylum in Boston, which had severely retarded and disturbed individuals as its inmates. One of the patients was a girl who was simply called Little Annie. She was totally unresponsive to others in the asylum. The staff tried everything possible to help her, yet without success. Finally she was confined to a cell in the basement of the asylum and given up as hopeless.
A Christian woman worked at the asylum, and she believed that every one of Gods creatures needed love, concern and care. So she decided to spend her lunch hours in front of Little Annies cell, reading to her and praying that God would free her from her prison of silence. Day after day the Christian woman came to Little Annies door and read, but the little girl did not respond. Months went by. The woman tried to talk with Little Annie, but it was like talking to an empty cell. She brought little tokens of food for the girl, but they were never received.
Then one day a brownie was missing from the plate the caring woman received from Little Annies cell. Encouraged, she continued to read to her and pray for her. Eventually the little girl began to answer the woman through the bars of her cell. Soon the woman convinced the doctors that Little Annie needed a second chance at treatment. They brought her up from the basement and continued to work with her. Within two years Little Annie was told she could leave the asylum and enjoy a normal life. She chose not to leave, though. She was so grateful for the love and attention she was given by the dedicated Christian woman that, she decided to stay and love others as she had been loved. So Little Annie stayed on at the institution to work with other patients who were suffering as she had suffered.
Nearly half a century later, the Queen of England held a special ceremony to honor on e of the most inspiring women in the United States, Hellen Keller. When asked to what she would attribute her success at overcoming her dual handicap of blindness and deafness, Hellen Keller replied, If it hadnt been for Anne Sullivan, I wouldnt be here today. Anne Sullivan, who tenaciously loved and believed in an incorrigible blind and deaf girl named Helen Keller, was Little Annie.
Because one loving lady in the dungeon of an insane asylum believed that a hopeless little girl needed Gods love, the world received the marvelous gift of Hellen Keller.
This Article has been viewed 639 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.