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That’s All the Lumber You Sent
by Jim Ryan • Northport, NY

I was in the music department of a bookstore a couple of years ago to pick up a copy of James Taylor’s latest CD. After my purchase, I went to the new release section where they let you listen to CDs before buying them. Here I found a CD by Kathy Mattea and listened to the first song. It was about a man who had recently passed away. St. Peter met the man at the gates of Heaven and asked him if he would like to see the house they had built for him, where he was to live for all of eternity. The man anxiously agreed.

They began to walk down a beautiful wide boulevard with tremendous stone mansions on either side, each one beautifully landscaped. The man was now starting to get excited. As they strolled down the boulevard, the houses became a little more modest and the road a bit less wide. The homes were fabulous nonetheless.

As they walked and walked, the homes got smaller and smaller. The street got narrower and narrower. Finally at the end of a dirt road, St. Peter stopped and pointed to a tiny shack, barely livable. He said to the man “Well, here it is.”

The man couldn’t believe it. He said to St. Peter, “You mean this is the home you’ve prepared for me to live in for all eternity? You’ve got to be kidding! How can you do this to me?” St. Peter humbly said to the man.

“That’s all the lumber you sent.”

The song goes on to say that those living in the mansions found out early what it’s all about: love and compassion for your fellow man. The recently deceased man wants to go back to earth and do it again. He professes to St. Peter the kind of life he would lead in order to send an abundance of lumber to construct his heavenly home.

I am always somewhat saddened when I hear of a person who, having survived some tragic event, (perhaps cancer or a heart attack), decides to change his life and find a way to live a life of purpose. It’s not the person’s decision to change his life that saddens me, but the fact that a tragedy had to occur to break the person out of his inertia. Break out now! Start sending more lumber. Live a purposeful life, filled with unconditional love and compassion.

Excerpted from Simple Happiness: 52 Easy Ways to Lighten Up, 2006 by Jim Ryan. Available at AuthorHouse, Amazon.com, other online stores and at your local bookstore by request.

Motivational speaker and author, Jim Ryan, shares his simple happiness message across the country encouraging everyone to live their best life now. His relaxed style and unique ability to turn profound, life-changing concepts into easily understood solutions is what reaches the heart of his audiences. He can be reached at 866-JIM-RYAN (866-546-7926) or at info@jimryantalks.com. For more
information about Jim Ryan, please visit his website at:
www.JimRyanTalks.com.