Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on
her face,
walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a
most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries.
She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work,
they had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the
grocer,
scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store. Visualizing the
family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as
soon as I can." John told her he could not give her credit, as she did
not have a charge account at his store.
Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation
between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocerman
that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family.
The grocerman said in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have a grocery list? Louise
replied "Yes sir!" "O.K." he said: "Put your grocery list on the
scales
and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in
groceries." Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she
reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled
something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully
with her head still bowed. The eyes of the grocer man and the customer
showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down. The
grocer man staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said
begrudgingly, "I can't believe it." The customer smiled and the
grocer man
started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale
did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them
until the scales would hold no more. The grocer man stood there in utter
disgust.
Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and
looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list, it was a
prayer, which said: "Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this
in your hands." The grocer man gave her the groceries that he had gathered
and placed on the scales and stood in stunned silence. Louise thanked
him and left the store. The customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to John as
he said, "It was worth every penny of it."
It was sometime later that John Longhouse discovered the scales were
broken; therefore only God knows how much a prayer weighs.
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