What are Incidental Gleanings?

I found the following vignette in an anecdote book that had been left behind by an old uncle of mine. As you read the following story, think about what it means to you.
As Mahatma Gandhi was boarding a train, one of his shoes slipped off and fell on the track below. Since the train was already moving forward, he was unable to retrieve it. To the amazement of his companions, he took off his other shoe and threw it back on the track close to the other one. When a fellow passenger asked why he did so, Gandhi smiled and said, "The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track will now have a pair he can use."
What lessons can you extract from that story? You can turn a loss into a win for yourself or someone else? Does this display an action that makes no sense? Could it make perfect sense, if we just dig deeper for the meaning? This to me is an incidental gleaning.

Think Tank: "The bad things in life, open your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before." ~ From the movie Good Will Hunting

This week's Observer article on broiler chickens

This week The Observer's supplement Food Monthly Magazine carries a good article on the conditions in which broiler chickens are reared and the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme.

Of course it is not going far enough because it is not promoting a vegetarian diet, but it is good for a wide-circulation Sunday paper to devote space to the welfare of farm animals. I usually don't like The Observer, but in this case I have to say: well done.

Give peace a chance

High School reporter writes for the Boston Globe about the Boston Mayor's 12th Annual Youth Summit.

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