The Necessity of Accepting Favors

One spring day, long ago, Father called me to go with him to old man Trussell's blacksmith shop. He had left a rake and a hoe to be repaired. And they were ready when we came, fixed like new. Father handed over a silver dollar, but Mr. Trussell refused to take it. "No," he said. "There's no charge for that little job." My Father insisted.

If I should live a thousand years, I'll never forget that blacksmith's reply. "Sid," he said to my father, "can't you let a man do something - just to stretch his soul?"

R. Lee Sharpe