Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The two men talked for hours together about their families, their jobs and their favorite hunting and fishing spots.
Every afternoon when the man by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he would see outside the window. The other man looked forward to those one-hour periods where his world would be transformed from serious illness to activity and robust health outdoors.
“There’s a park with a beautiful lake,” said the man by the window. “There’s ducks and swans swimming and children splashing on shore. There’s a young couple walking arm-in-arm. Reminds me my younger days,” he sighed. As the man by the window depicted all this in exquisite detail, his roommate would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.
One day, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the marching band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window detailed it with vivid description. He smiled, contented.
Weeks passed.
One morning, the nurse arrived to bring the necessary medications only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window who had died peacefully in his sleep. She felt sad as she called hospital attendants to take the body away.
When it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. He strained to turn to look out the window.
It faced a brick wall!
He was stunned. “What could have compelled my roommate to have described such wonderful things outside this window?” he asked.
The nurse responded that the man by the window was blind and could not even see the wall. “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”
There’s tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
Jesus said it this way, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)