A PARABLE (as retold by Dorothy-Jean (Dody) Christian Chapman) Once, a young wife and her older, widowed neighbor

shared coffee at dawn. As they enjoyed each others company and the rising sun, they noticed three apparently destitute men with shabby appearances shuffle up to the front yard and sit down on the curb of the street. Being a kind young lady, the wife opened the front door and asked the three men if they would come in and share breakfast and coffee with her and her neighbor. Is the man of the house in? asked one of the men. No. The young wife replied, He will return shortly with the morning newspaper and some milk. All three men hastily interrupted each other saying, Then we will not enter your house. Fifteen minutes later, the young husband returned with the newspaper and a quart of milk. He looked askance at the three men on the street curb in front of the house and continued to his door. His wife and neighbor explained the strange behavior of the three men. The young man explained to his wife and neighbor saying, I think we should share our breakfast with them; lets invite them in. The husband walked to the front door and in a friendly tone called to the men, Say, would you three guys share breakfast with us this morning? One of the men replied, Thank you, but only one of us can enter. Oh, and why is that? questioned the husband. One of the men took charge and explained, My name is Wealth, and my other two friends are Success and Love, he said gesturing toward the other two. Please go to your wife and discuss which one of us should enter your home. The young man talked to his wife at the door. He made a decision to invite Wealth in before his wife could object. But object she did. She preferred to invite Success in to their home. Listening to the young couples difficult decision, the older neighbor friend suggested that Love be the chosen person; that their home would then be filled with love. The young couple thought about the wise words of an older friend with experience and decided that Love would be the choice. The young couple called to the three men, telling them of their choice to have Love enter their home. But all three men arose and walked toward the house. The husband said, I thought your agreement with us was that only one could enter our house!

The three men spoke in turns saying, If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out. However, since you invited Love in to your home, wherever Love goes, the others go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success.