Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
From the book, "Acres of diamonds."
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In the year 1843, a man was born who was to have a profound effect upon millions of people. His name was Russell Herman Conwell. He became a lawyer, then a newspaper editor, and finally a minister. It was during his church career that an incident occurred that was to change his life and the lives of countless others.
One day a group of young people came to Dr. Conwell at his church and asked him if he’d be willing to instruct them in college courses; they all wanted a college education but lacked the money to pay for it. He told them to let him think about it and come back in a few days.
After they left, an idea began to form in Dr. Conwell’s mind. He asked himself, "Why couldn’t there be a college for poor but deserving young people?" And before very long the idea consumed him. Why not, indeed. It was a project worthy of 100% dedication, complete commitment.
And almost single-handedly, Dr. Conwell raised several million dollars, with which he founded Temple University, today one of the country’s leading schools.
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He raised the money by giving more than 6000 lectures all over the country, and in each one of them he told a story which he called "Acres of Diamonds." It was true story which had affected him very deeply and had the same effect on his audiences. The money he needed to build the college came pouring in.
The story was of an African farmer who heard tales of other farmers who had made millions discovering diamond mines. These tales so excited the farmer that he could hardly wait to sell his farm and go prospecting for diamonds himself. So he sold the farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent searching unsuccessfully for the gleaming gems which brought such high prices in the markets of the world. Finally, the story goes, worn out and in a fit of despondency he threw himself into a river and drowned.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch – or farm in this case – the man who had bought his farm happened to be crossing the small stream on the property when suddenly there was a bright flash of blue and red light from the stream bottom. He bent down, picked up the stone – it was a good-sized stone – and, admiring it, later he put it on his fireplace mantle as an interesting curiosity.
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Several weeks later a visitor picked up the stone, looked closely at it, hefted it in his hand, and nearly fainted. He asked the farmer if he knew what he’d found. When the farmer said no, that he thought it was a piece of crystal, the visitor told him he had found one of the largest diamonds ever discovered.
Well, the farmer had trouble believing that. He told the man that his creek was full of such stones, not as large perhaps as the one on the mantle but, well, they were sprinkled generously throughout the creek bottom.
Needless to say, the farm that the first farmer had sold so that he might find a diamond mine turned out to be the most productive diamond mine on the entire African continent.
The first farmer had owned, free and clear, acres of diamonds, but had sold them for practically nothing in order to look for them elsewhere.
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Well, the moral is clear. If the first farmer had only taken the time to study and prepare himself to learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state and, since he already owned a piece of the African continent, to thoroughly explore the property he had before looking elsewhere all of his wildest dreams would have come true.
Now the thing about this story that so profoundly affected Dr. Conwell and subsequently millions of others, was the idea that each of us is at this moment standing in the middle of his or her own acres of diamonds.
If we only had the wisdom and patience to intelligently and effectively explore the work in which we are now engaged, to explore ourselves, we’d usually find the riches we seek, whether they be financial or intangible or both.
Before we go running off to what we think are greener pastures, let’s make sure that our own is not just as green or perhaps even greener. It’s been said that if the other guy’s pasture appears to be greener than ours, it’s quite possible that it’s getting better care. Besides, while we’re looking at other pastures, other people are looking at ours.
The book "Acres of Diamonds" can be read online PDF
William James Roop
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