Decent manner may not only change the life of others to the best but also the life of the decent person himself. God will never forget the benevolent nor his good deeds.
It was a stormy night. It was snowing and ice balls were quaking the place that you would think it is a huge earthquake. A couple looking for a room for a night came to an inn. The young clerk at the desk informed the couple that all rooms of his hotel were booked and also that not a single hotel room was available that night because of an international conference.
However, seeing their plight, he decided not to let them to go out in that bad weather. He, therefore, offered them his personal room. The couple was reluctant as that would cause great inconvenience to the young clerk. “Where are you going to sleep, young man, if you give your room to us?” asked the man. “Oh, I am young and single. I can sleep at the reception area in the night. I insist that you accept my offer as I cannot let you go out in this storm. You may not even get a taxi in this kind of weather.” Having been left with no choice, the elderly couple accepted the young man’s offer and spent the night in his personal room.
Next morning, before leaving the hotel the man after having expressed his gratitude offered a handsome reward to the young man. The couple was really touched by the young man’s compassion as well as high sense of honesty. “A person like you should become the manager of the best hotel in the world. Tell me, if I built someday the best hotel in the world, would you come and join me?”
Years passed, the young clerk forgot about it all. He received a letter from a stranger. He opened an envelope and found an air ticket to New York.
The young man became curious and decided to go. Upon his arrival at New York, the young man was welcomed by his host who personally took him downtown. There, in front of him, lay the finest hotel he had ever seen.
“That,” said the gentleman, “It is the hotel I built for you to manage.” The stranger was William Waldorf Astor the famous billionaire who built the Waldorf Astoria. The young clerk, George Boldt, was titled its first manager.
A decent person would gain the reward of his decency even if he meets people who use their decency in unfair ways or those who do not appreciate his deeds. God would never let his decency go unrewarded.
A farmer was working in his field in Scotland, while he heard screams of a boy who was drowning at a swamp. He ran and saved him. On the next day, a rich man came to reward him as the boy was his son. The farmer refused taking any money. At that moment…to be continued..
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
