OTHER THINGS

 

A large group of Taliban soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand dune.
"One Texas soldier is better than ten Taliban." The Taliban commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers over the
dune whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence. The voice then calls out
"One Texan is better than one hundred Taliban."
Furious, the Taliban commander sends his next best 100 troops over
the dune and instantly a huge gunfight commences. After 10 minutes of battle, again silence.
The Texan voice calls out again
"One Texan is better than one thousand Taliban." The enraged Taliban Commander musters one thousand fighters and sends
them across the dune. Cannon, rocket and machine gun fire ring out as a huge
battle is fought. Then silence. Eventually one wounded Taliban fighter crawls back over the dune and with his dying words tells his commander,
"Don't send any more men, its a trap. There are two of them." 
  
 I received this email from a friend and thought I would share it.  

What is an American?:
 
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
 
So, an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.
 
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican,
African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
 
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America, they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that, he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
 
An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.
 

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army twenty years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, 2001, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
 
Americans welcome the best -- the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest-tossed. These, in fact, are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, earning better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade
 
Center victims were from at least thirty other countries, cultures, and first languages -- including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
 
So, you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao, and every blood thirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so, you would just be killing yourself, because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit and freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
 
Pass THIS around the World
 
 

THE EMPTY CHAIR


       A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her  father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his  head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed.
       The  minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.   "I guess you were expecting me," he said.   "No, who are you said the father.  The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I see the empty  chair;   I figured you knew I was going to show up."  "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man.  "Would you mind closing the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.  "I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.
 "But  all of my life I have never known how to pray.  At church I used to hear the pastor talk
about prayer, but it went  right  over my head." "I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day four years ago my best friend said to me, "Johnny, prayer is
just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is  what I suggest."  "Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith  see Jesus on the chair.  It's not spooky because he promised, 'I'll  be with  you  always'. Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me  right now." "So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of  hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an  empty  chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the  funny
farm."
      The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to  continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.  Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.  "Did he die in peace?" he asked.  "Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to  his  bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back  from the store an hour later, I found him dead.  But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before  Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside
the  bed. What do you make of that?"  The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go  like that.

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