One day I was teaching a weekend college course on business start-up. The elevator was broken, so I had to lug my dolley of 4 boxes, by hand, up three flights of stairs. I was outside, and it was a little hot and sunny, but not unbearably unpleasant. I began to complain and grumble about how the school should have the elevators working and so on and so forth. I was angry that I had to go through all of this trouble to get to the top of the stairs.

Then, just as I reached to the top of the stairs, a young man, a quadriplegic, in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the neck down, operating his chair with just the slight movements of his bent-to-the-side neck, saw me and with a big, beautiful smile said to me, “Nice day, isn’t it.” I was stunned with embarrassment. Here I was moaning and groaning with all of my faculties and in perfect health, and here is a young man paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair telling me how pleasant a day it was. From that life-changing moment to this day, I have never complained about any physical labor again. “Only by the grace of God there go I.”