[00:02.37]4.The Most Important Body Part
[00:05.64]My mother used to ask me what is the most important part of the body.
[00:10.21]Through the years I would guess at what I thought was the correct answer.
[00:15.01]When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, “My ears, Mommy.”
[00:23.06]She said, “No. Many people are deaf.
[00:26.43]But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon.”
[00:30.57]Several years passed before she asked me again.
[00:34.49]Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer.
[00:38.85]So this time I told her, “Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes.”
[00:46.77]She looked at me and told me, “You are learning fast,
[00:50.91]but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.”
[00:55.05]Over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was,
[01:00.81]“No, but you are getting smarter every year, my child.”
[01:03.43]Then last year, my Grandpa died. Everybody was hurt.
[01:08.80]Everybody was crying.
[01:10.97]My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to Grandpa.
[01:16.53]She asked me, “Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?”
[01:21.64]I was shocked when she asked me this now.
[01:25.46]I always thought this was a game between her and me.
[01:28.83]She saw the confusion on my face and told me, “This question is very important.
[01:35.15]It shows that you have really lived your life.”
[01:38.63]I saw her eyes well up with tears.
[01:41.46]She said, “My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder.”
[01:47.67]I asked, “Is it because it holds up your head?”
[01:51.92]She replied, “No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or loved one when they cry.
[01:59.13]Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometimes in life, my dear.
[02:03.40]I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will have a shoulder to cry on when you need it.”
[02:10.07]Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one.
[02:15.54]It is sympathetic to the pain of others.