The Socratic Test of Three - Something All Public Officials Should Think About

Socrates was a respected citizen, statesman and philosopher of ancient Greece. Many say he laid the seeds for modern western civilization.  He was revered by his neighbors and fellow Greek citizens for both his wisdom and high moral character. 

One day an acquaintance of his ran over to approach him and asked "Socrates, have you heard the latest news about Marcus?"  Socrates raised his hand slowly and said "Wait! Before you tell me what you have to say about Marcus, let's see if it passes - The Test of Three." 

"The Test of Three?" inquired the man. “Yes” said Socrates. "The Test of Three."

"The first test" Socrates explained "is the test of Truth. Are you absolutely sure that what you are about to share with me about Marcus is the truth?" "Well no I don't know," replied the man, "I just heard it a few minutes ago."

"So," said Socrates "you want to share with me something about Marcus that you yourself have not confirmed as being true". The man replied "Yes".

"Well let's apply the second test" Socrates said, "the test of Goodness". Is what you are about to share with me about Marcus good?" "No, on the contrary Socrates ..." the man began; but Socrates cut him off and said "So You want to tell me something bad about Marcus even though you are not certain it is true?" The man shrugged his shoulders as though he were a little embarrassed.

Socrates smiled and said "Don't be disappointed you may still pass the third test - the test of Usefulness. Will what you share with me about Marcus be of any use or value to me?" "No, not really said the man." 

"Well then," commented Socrates, "If what you want to share with me about Marcus is neither True, nor Good and has no Use or Value for me - why in the world do you want to tell me this?" 

The man, then hung his head, obviously ashamed and just stood silent.  Finally he turned around and just walked away.

As elected officials, civic leader, or business owners would not all of our places of work - especially our seats of local government - be a much better off if we all just remembered and employed the Socratic Test of Three?

Why This Puppy

It was Johnny's birthday.  He was eight years old.  His parents promised he could get a puppy when he was eight, so right after breakfast, they hopped in the car and drove to Grandma's house to get his puppy.

Grandma lived several miles away in a much bigger city.  Shortly after arriving at Grandma's house, Johnny's mother asked, "Johnny, would you like to walk to the pet store to look at the puppies?" 

 

Johnny proudly walked on his own down to Main Street where the pet store was located.  As he approached the store, he could see several puppies bobbing up and down in the big store window.  As he entered the store, four puppies huddled together in the display area began to jump up and down when Johnny came near.

Johnny introduced himself to the store owners and explained why he was there.  He asked if it would be alright to hold some of the puppies; they agreed.  While playing with the four puppies, he noticed a fifth puppy all alone curled up in the far corner and asked the owners if that puppy was from the same litter?

The lady responded he was but that he was not for sale. "How come?" Johnny  asked. 

 

"That puppy was born with a bad hip socket," she said, "and one of his back legs doesn't work very well."

 

"Wow," Johnny said, "What will you do with him?"  

 

"Well, tomorrow my husband will take him to the vet and have him put to sleep."

Johnny asked if he could hold that fifth puppy and the lady  nodded yes.  Instantly, the puppy responded to Johnny's touch with several big licks and they immediately became friends.  "This is the puppy for me.  This is the puppy I want to buy," Johnny said. 

 

The pet store owners reminded Johnny that the puppy was not for sale; however, Johnny insisted that this was the puppy he wanted to buy. 

Johnny turned to walk out the door and he said, "I'll go home  and get my money and be right back." 

 

The wife said, "I don't understand.  Why do you want this puppy when you could get one that is perfect and won't cause you any trouble?"

Without saying a word, Johnny lifted his left trouser leg and exposed a large chrome brace circling his leg and running up the entire length of his leg.  The owners looked at each other in silence.  Finally the husband spoke, "Son you don't need to go get any money.  We would like you to have that puppy."

Thanks for Your Assistance

One night around 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rain storm.  Her car had broken down and she was desperately seeking a ride.

Soaking wet, she tried flagging down one passing car after another.  Finally a car stopped and a young white driver offered to help, which was generally unheard of back in those conflict-filled days of the mid-1960's.

The young man drove her several miles to an all night diner and made arrangements to have her car towed.  He bought her a cup of coffee, then personally called her a taxi and waited for it to arrive.  Finally, he assisted her into the taxi when it arrived.

Though the woman was obviously in a big hurry to get going, she stopped briefly to ask the man for his name and address, which she wrote down before finally allowing the cab to leave.  Once in the cab, she thanked him one more time.

Several days later, a knock came at the man's door.  To his surprise, a delivery service brought in a giant console color TV.  An envelope with a card inside was taped to the television console.  The handwritten note read: 

"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night.  The rain had drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits.  Then you came along.  Because of you, I was able to make it to the hospital and be at my husband's bedside before he passed away.  God bless you for helping me with all you did and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole

Who Is Your Daddy?

A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, when they stopped at a small country diner for breakfast.   While waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with each diner.  The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, "I hope that guy doesn't come over here."  But sure enough, the white-haired man did come over to their table.

"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.

 

"Oklahoma," they answered. 

 

"Great to have you here in Tennessee," the stranger said ... "What do you do for a living?" 

 

"I teach at a seminary," he replied. 

 

"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you?  Well, in that case, I've got a really great story for you."  And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple from Oklahoma. 

 

The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great!  Just what I need - another preacher story!"
The man started, "See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother.   He had a hard time growing up in these parts, because every place he went, people always asked him the same question, 'Hey boy, who's your daddy?'  Whether at school, the grocery store or the drug store, people would ask 'Who's your daddy?'"

"The boy often avoided going places just to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your daddy?'   A new preacher arrived in town and one Sunday as the young boy was going out of church with the crowd, the new preacher, not knowing anything about the young boy, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, 'Son, who's your daddy?'"

"The whole church got deathly quiet and the preacher could feel that every eye in the church was watching as if now they  would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's your daddy?'  Sensing this awkward situation around him and how uncomfortable the little boy looked, the preacher said 'Wait a minute!  I know who you are!  I can clearly see the family resemblance now.  You are a child of God.'   With that the preacher patted the little boy on his shoulder and said, 'Boy, you've got a great inheritance.  Go out in the world and claim it.'"

"The little boy, for the first time in a long time, smiled big and walked out of church that Sunday a changed person.  He was never the same again.  From that day forward whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd just tell them, 'I'm a Child of God.''' 

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn't that a great story?"  The professor and his wife were obviously moved and both responded that it really was a great story!   As the southern gentleman walked toward the door to leave, he turned to look back at the couple from Oklahoma and said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!"  And with that he walked out of the diner.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned by those final words.  When the waitress came to their table with their bill, the professor asked, "Do you know who that man was -- the one who just left our table?" 

 

The waitress grinned and said, "Of course.  Everybody down here knows him.  That's Ben Hooper.  He's the former Governor of the State of Tennessee!"

Ben Hooper (1870-1957) - Governor of Tennessee from 1911-1915

This great story is attributed to Dr. Fred Craddock, Pastor of Cherry Log Christian Church, Cherry Log, Georgia.

Easy Eddie

Many years ago, Al Capone, the notorious criminal, was involved in everything from booze to prostitution to murder.  Al had a personal lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie" and Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering was the primary reason Big Al was kept out of jail for so many years.

Capone paid Eddie well and Eddie lived the high life.  He and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion that filled an entire Chicago city block.  Though involved deeply with the mob, Eddie had one soft spot, his son whom he loved dearly.  Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education and despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie tried his best to teach his son right from wrong.  Eddie wanted his son to grow up to be a good man.

One day, Eddie decided to rectify wrongs he had done and went to the authorities to tell the truth about Al Capone so he could clean up his tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity.  Eddie knew the cost for testifying against the mob would be great ... and he was right.  Within a year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago side street.  But in his eyes, Eddie gave his son a great gift.  When the police emptied his pockets, they found a rosary and a poem Eddie had clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop.  Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will.  Place no faith in time, for the clock may soon be still." 

Now an unrelated --- but necessary parallel to the above story ---- please read you won't be disappointed.   

 
STORY NUMBER TWO

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Navy Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare, a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.  One day his squadron was sent on a mission.  After he was airborne, Butch looked at his fuel gauge and realized the ground crew did not top off his fuel tank.  He knew he would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and return to his ship.  Butch’s flight leader ordered Butch to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, Butch dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

On returning to the fleet, Butch saw in the distance a squadron of Japanese aircraft heading toward the fleet.  Since the fleet’s fighters were all out on their missions, the fleet was now virtually defenseless.  Butch was unable to raise his squadron leader on the radio to bring them back in time to save the fleet.  There was only one thing for Butch do … he had to stop the Japanese planes from attacking the fleet.

Without hesitation or regard to his personal safety, Butch dove into the formation of enemy aircraft; with his wing-mounted 50 caliber's guns he blazed in, attacking one surprised aircraft after another.  Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Even though his ammo was gone, Butch continued his assault by diving at planes, trying to clip a wing or hit a tail in hopes of damaging them and rendering them unfit to fly. Totally exasperated, the remaining Japanese aircraft headed home and Butch perished in the ocean.

Butch’s home town vowed not to allow the memory of this WWII hero to fade from their memory.  They named their city airport after him.  The City of Chicago decided to pay tribute to its courageous native son.

So for all you travelers who fly in or out of Chicago's O'hare airport here is my recommendation:  The next time you find yourself waiting for a flight at O'Hare Airport, give some serious thought to visiting Butch’s memorial.  Take a look at his statue and his Medal of Honor he earned.  It is located between Terminals 1 and 2.

YOU MAY BE ASKING --- GABE WHAT THE HELL DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE IN COMMON?

Butch “Edward” O'Hare - the World War II Hero was "Easy Eddie's" son.