Let the mind go

In the 1960s and 1970s, in a small town not far from Tennessee, there lived Mr. Green and his neighbor John. They were about the same age, owned large farms of the same size, and were the two most powerful farmers in the whole town.

Although Mr. Green had only an elementary school education, his studiousness, good management, and kindness made the farm more than twice the size of his neighbor John by the time he was thirty-five; And John? Although he was not a college dropout, he was lazy and gambling, so his farm went from bad to worse and he got into so much debt that he had to sell most of his land to pay it off.

One day, the creditors brought a large party to John's house to collect the debt, and threatened that if John did not pay the debt, they would take the remaining land of John's house into their own name according to the contract. At this time, the farm was the only source of income for John's family to survive, and if they lost their only farm, they would not be able to survive.

John had no choice but to go to his neighbor Mr. Green's house and borrow $20,000 from him, which solved the crisis.

Eight years passed quickly, but John never returned the money to Mr. Green, even though he did not want it. One day, after John had a few more drinks, he suddenly had a bad idea: If he killed Green, he wouldn't have to pay back the huge amount of money. So, one night, he took the opportunity to drive Mr. Green into the city, driving a heavy truck himself, full power into Mr. Green's car. Clang -- "Mr. Green's car was overturned and burst into flames. John thought that Green would not survive this time, and was about to walk away, when Mr. Green climbed out of the fire, all mangled, one leg dragging on the ground, obviously broken, his hand over his chest, and convulsing. John saw that Green was not dead yet, and recognized himself. In order to avoid future trouble, John, who would not stop, ran forward and violently kicked Mr. Green on the head. Mr. Green instantly lost consciousness and did not move any more.

A passing friend took Green to the hospital and helped him call the police. Three days later, Green came out of the coma and the police rushed to Green's hospital room, but Mr. Green only said that he was drunk and refused to identify John as having hurt him.

Six months later, Mr. Green died in a hospital bed from an infected wound. Before he died, he called all his children to his bedside and said to them earnestly: "The reason why I did not have John arrested by the police was because I was afraid of causing the same harm to his family again, and from now on, whatever misfortune may happen to me, you must promise me that you will never say a word of abuse or hatred to any of John's children, so that they may grow up as happy and respected citizens of the community as you." After all, we are gone, you will have to be neighbors in the future, and neighbors with hatred in their hearts cannot get along well with each other, and such a life will not be happy..."

This is indeed one of the most difficult promises to keep. Especially for several young people, seventeen or eighteen years old, they are young and energetic and easy to impulse, but, because of Mr. Green's last words, in order to let his soul rest in peace, the Green and John's two families for the time being, there is no more fighting.

That winter, the Vietnam War broke out. Mr. Green's son Jim and John's son Brown were drafted into the Army, and happened to be divided into the same team to participate in the Vietnam War, the difference is that in a battle, Brown unfortunately died, was killed by a shell, in fact, he could have died, but when the shell fell on the side of his comrades, he did not hesitate to push away unaware of the comrades. Let the shell explode around you!

The comrade Brown saved was named Jim Green, the son of Mr. Green!

When the unit leaders were collecting Brown's belongings, they found this passage in his diary:

"If there is only one single plank bridge between you and others, then please use your broad mind to widen the bridge of life; If the relationship between you and others is only a tiny button, then please use your broad mind to extend the radius of this life... My great neighbor has done it all! When my father killed the neighbor Mr. Green, it is they let the heart open one side, to keep our complete family, until today, I feel that there is one of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers in the world, its name is called 'tolerance'; Unfortunately, this is a flower planted by a neighbor's family, and if I had the chance, I would return it to my neighbor with a more fragrant one!"