I came across this story in the book “Gratitude Works” by Robert Emmons. It is not a “christian” book but does contain a lot of helpful discussion on gratitude and entitlement.
From Hassidic Rabbi Rafael of Barshad (19th century Europe):
“When I get to heaven, they’ll ask me, why didn’t you learn more Torah? And I’ll tell them that I wasn’t bright enough. Then They’ll ask me why didn’t you do more kind deeds for others? And I’ll tell them that I was physically weak. Then they’ll ask me, why didn’t you give more to charity? And I’ll tell them that I didn’t have enough money for that. And then they’ll ask me: If you were so stupid, weak, and poor, why were you so arrogant? And for that, I won’t have an answer.”
This is one of the strangest things to me. We are so weak, so inadequate, so evil, and yet we insist of thinking so highly of ourselves.
MattTroupe.net 