The harried throng of people bumped into
one another and grumbled under their breaths impatiently to work their way in
and out of the department store doors.
Beside the doors was a black gentleman dressed in red and topped with a
Santa Claus hat ringing a bell beside the traditional Salvation Army Christmas
Pot. The man was a stark contrast to the
frazzled shoppers. He smiled and sang
Christmas songs as the vapors from his mouth in the cold air made him appear to
be a steam powered machine. The people passing
usually kept their heads down to fake the act of not noticing his presence to
escape the act of giving. Some even made
rude comments like, "You can't go anywhere without these idiots pestering
you for money."
Out of the car-packed parking lot appeared
a young boy hobbling on a pair of those steel crutches with the arm rings to
support his arms. His gait was a
tortured sight of shaking and wobbling side to side. The boy's tongue hanging out added to the picture
of a great strain of effort on his face as he made his way across the hectic
roadway toward the bell ringer.
The bell ringer noticed the boy's perilous
journey and deserted the bell ringing to offer aid while others were irritated
with the boy; a nuisance in their path to and from the store.
The bell ringer helped the young man
complete his crossing, and was about to help him through the busy doorway when
the boy began to pull away saying, "No, I waaant to ga...ooo to you
pot." His head teetered back and
forth as he turned to look at the bell ringer with a big smile on his face.
Understanding, the bell ringer smiled
allowing the boy to hobble to the pot.
Keeping the big smile transfixed to his face, the boy stared at the bell
ringer. Finally, the bell ringer through
his warm heart understood the boy wanted to hear him ring the bell...and ring
he did.
after a minute or two of the bell ringing
and both of them smiling at one another, the boy somehow contorted his arm in
such a way as to allow him to get his right hand into his coat pocket. The result of this maneuver was to withdraw a
roll of dollars perfectly rolled to fit into the round hole in the lid of the
pot. After the deposit, he demanded,
"Ka-keep pa-laying the bell...pa-leese."
As the bell ringer restarted the much-loved
bell ringing, the boy worked his hand back into his pocket and pulled out
another perfect roll of dollar bills depositing them through the hole. He smiled at the bell ringer who
reciprocated, and the hands to pocket to hole continued through seven
trips. The boy topped off his wonderful
performance with a, "Ah-I want ta ga-ive a da-dollar f-for every
ba-blessing I have, ba-but that is a-all I have. Isn't Jesus' ga-giffft won-er-ful? Ah-I love ha-im sa-oh ma-uch. Ha-e's ba-less me sa-oh ma-uch." Then he waved goodbye and turned slowly and
painstakingly to leave.
Leaving was going to be tougher than the coming for the young man due to
the tremendous increase in the crowd.
The entering and exiting at the door had come to a standstill. All eyes were on the young boy with Cerebral
Palsy and that aggravating bell ringer.
Jesus was heavy upon all present.
Their day had done a 180 turn about...all due to a previously annoying
bell ringer and a crowd-slowing crippled boy and his simple act of giving all
he had. The crowd's attitude toward
giving was in the process of changing all because of one person's simple act of
giving to thank God for the many blessings he had bestowed upon him, a person
most would think had received the short end of the stick. Maybe we should examine our lives more closely
for blessings before we complain.
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