Motivational story

 American Father Edward Joseph Flanagan (1886–1948) was a priest in the Catholic tradition.  He undertook to reform the juvenile offenders who, falling under the guise of organized criminals, indulged in acts of murder, robbery, violence and cruelty.  In the 'Balnagar' established by him, there were orphan children of all castes and sects.  The effort and patience he showed in transforming the misguided criminal children into good and virtuous citizens was incomparable.  He would bring the youths caught by the police to his 'Balnagar'.  Flanagan believed that everyone was fundamentally good and treated them according to his beliefs, despite being found guilty of their criminal acts.  He believed in those people, showered love on them, endured all the troubles and miseries caused by them and prayed for their welfare and worked hard for their upliftment, so that their vehicle of life would once again be on the right path.  But get on.  Thus Flanagan became a living example of love and love, tolerance and service.  Flanagan firmly believed that children could be reformed by winning their hearts not by scolding, scolding or punishment, but by showing them an exemplary role model.  The following is described in the book Father Flanagan of Balanagar, how he succeeded in reforming a very violent and cruel young man.  accidentEddy was orphaned at the age of four due to the death of his parents.  At the age of eight, he had achieved the potential to become the leader of a criminal organization.  The strange thing was that most of the criminals in his team were older than him.  Even the youth had accepted this child as their leader.  Eddy had committed the murders.  To demonstrate his power, he single-handedly robbed a bank and got away with thousands of dollars.  With the help of a stolen pistol, he robbed several hotels.  On one such occasion, when he was about to shoot to kill an old woman, he was caught by the security forces.  When he reached 'Balnagar', there was no fear of the police in his mind.  He would deliberately bully, lash out at others, plunder anything that came to the fore and use 'inappropriate' language towards other boys in his class.  He would even use bad words when referring to the respected Flanagan.  He looks at everything with hatred.  He found it boring to participate in school sports or an orchestra or to work in the fields, imitating the cat's voice during public prayer.  He would have wasted in a moment the work done by the other boys by working for hours.  For six months after his arrival in 'Balanagar', there was not a single glimpse of a smile on his face and not a drop of tears in his eyes.  People used to think that from his head to toe 'only poison is full of poison.  All this could not be tolerated by the hostel manager.  He wrote a letter to Flanagan -The Hidden Truth 37 Dear Father Flanagan, I have heard that according to you, there is no one evil in this world.  Can you tell me what you have to say about this boy named Eddy?  One night, Eddy was moaning while sleeping.  Looking at his face, Flanagan understood that he had a high fever.  Although he had suffered greatly from Eddy's indomitable nuisances, Flanagan served him with great affection, completely forgetting him.  Even after he recovered from illness, Flanagan, his teacher and classmates continued to show special affection and goodwill towards him.  Senior boys used to take her to the cinema for entertainment.  Special care was taken during the meal.  There was no shortage of anything for him.  But still no sign of a smile was visible on Eddy's face.  One day Eddy walked straight into Flanagan's office and said, 'So you want to make me a good boy?  Do you think you will be successful in this?  Right now I'm coming kicking Matron.  What do you have to say on this?  ' Flanagan replied sternly, 'I still believe that you are basically a good boy.  'What did I tell you just now?  Yet you keep repeating the same lie.  You know I'm not a good guy, yet you're going to say I'm a good guy.  By telling the same lie over and over, are you proving yourself not to be a true liar?  'Flanagan thought for a moment.  They felt that an important turning point in the boy's life had come.  He asked Eddy, 'Tell me, then, what is the mark of a good boy?  Not only that, he obeys his elders.  ’ Eddie nodded his head.  ' Isn't it that he obeys his teachers?  "Yes," said Eddie.  Flanagan said, 'Then, that's what you've been doing.  But Eddy, you haven't got good teachers before here.  The vagabonds were your guides and you obeyed them.  They took you on the wrong path.  You followed them and thought you were really bad.  But if you follow good teachers, you will also become good.  ' These words touched the heart of Eddy.  For a moment he stood in silence and thought.  He felt that there must be some truth in Flanagan's words.  This took away from his heart the notion that he was basically a bad boy.  He went to Flanagan standing on the other side of the table.  Flanagan took her in his arms and tied her in a hug.  Tears welled up from Eddy's eyes and began to wet his hair.  Ten years later, Eddy graduated with a high grade.  Enlisted in the army, he participated in the war.  He has received several awards for excellence.  He also got affection and respect from his friends and acquaintances.  Now he had become a trustworthy and honest person in the eyes of all.A firm belief in his own goodness removed the notion that he was essentially evil in his heart.  Flanagan had complete faith in the divinity inherent in that child.  How fruitful was his faith!  A misguided child, viewed with suspicion and distrust, made great strides in his life by gaining confidence in his own goodness.