The seventieth birthday festivity was held in honor of a woman who had become a widow early on in marriage but nevertheless done a magnificent job of bringing up her six children by herself. Her children wanted to delight their mother with expensive clothing and jewelry. Amidst piles of costly presents, the elderly mother shed tears as she ate the chopped roast chicken her poor son had brought.
When the family had been destitute the mother often lied to her children, telling them that she could not eat chicken; all she wanted was to feed them even her share. This son had fathomed his mother's heart and prepared the dish with all his heart.
When we serve others not merely on the surface but with the kind of love that searches and fathoms their hearts, what we do will be truly worthwhile and can touch and move their heart.

~ from Dr. Jaerock Lee's column "The Way" carried on The Joong-ang Daily