Cause and Effect

[Nick]

The following was sent my way by a friend. Advance apologies to those who have read this before.

Subject: Farmer Fleming

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while
trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a
nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in
black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself.
Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse
surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the
father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the
nobleman. "You saved my son's life." "No, I can't accept payment for what I did,"
the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.  
"I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son
will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a
man we both will be proud of." And that he did.
Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated
from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known
throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of
Penicillin.
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was
stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around. Work like you don't need
the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. Sing
like nobody's listening. Live like it's Heaven on Earth.