One-two-three, one-two-three, step, heel, together, step, heel, together.
Last month, my wife and I had the wonderful opportunity to dance in the Plant City Noon Rotary Club fundraiser, “Dancing with the Locals.” We worked on a waltz, because we enjoyed the flow of the music and also the fact that I cannot do the gyrations that the rest of the great dancers could do — no somersaults or cartwheels from me! The music was gentle and slow, and it seems that we all like those moments when our life flows effortlessly through the days and nights.
Since December, it seems that my gentle waltz of life has become a jitterbug of activities. With the list of events, such as the Plant City Christmas Parade, social and holiday events, shopping and our church’s Christmas program, the magical month of December has disappeared too quickly.
Through my years of military service and time away from home during the holidays, I came across this wonderful story to help during these last days before Christmas. It begins with Lee, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He was sitting at his desk on Christmas Eve, and, during a slow news day, he found himself reminiscing about the Delgado family he had featured while writing a series of articles about Chicago’s neediest people a few days earlier. The Delgados comprised a grandmother named Perfecta and her two granddaughters, Jenny, 13, and Lydia.
He remembered how unprepared he was when he walked into their two-room apartment on the West Side of Chicago for the interview. Bare halls and bare walls, no furniture, no rugs, nothing but a kitchen table and a handful of rice in the cupboards. He learned during the interview that Jenny and Lydia only had one short-sleeved dress apiece, plus a thin gray sweater that they shared. On cold days, when the girls walked the half-mile to school, one of the girls would start with the sweater and then give it to the other at the halfway mark. It was all they had.
Perfecta wanted more for her granddaughters and gladly would have worked, but her severe arthritis and age made work too difficult and painful.
Because it was a slow news day, Lee decided to check out a car and drive to Chicago’s West Side to check up on the Delgados. When Jenny opened the door, he couldn’t believe what he saw! His article on the Delgados had touched the hearts of many subscribers who responded with furniture and appliances, rugs, dozens of coats, scarves and gloves. The girls wouldn’t have to share a sweater any longer. There were cartons and boxes of food everywhere. They had so much food that the cupboards and closets couldn’t contain it. Someone had even donated a Christmas tree, and under it were mounds of presents and thousands of dollars in cash.
Lee was astonished. But what astonished him the most was what he found Perfecta and her granddaughters doing. They were preparing to give most of it away.
Why would you give so much of this away? Lee asked.
Perfecta responded: Our neighbors are still in need. We cannot have plenty, while they have nothing. This is what Jesus would want us to do.
Lee was dumbfounded. After regaining his composure, he asked Perfecta another question. He wanted to know what she and the girls thought about the generosity shown to them. Again, Lee was not prepared for the answer.
This is wonderful; this is very good, she said. We did nothing to deserve this; it’s all a gift from God.
But, she added: It is not his greatest gift, Lee. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. Jesus.
Lee was speechless as he drove back to the office. In the quiet of his car, he noted a couple of observations. He had plenty and, along with it, plenty of anxiety, while the Delgados, despite their poverty had peace. Lee had everything and yet wanted more, but the Delgados had nothing and yet knew generosity. Lee had everything, and yet his life was as bare as the Delgados’ apartment prior to the article running. And, yet, the Delgados, who had nothing, were filled with hope, contentment and had a spiritual certainty. Even though Lee had so much more than the Delgados, he longed for what they had in their poverty.
As we complete the wonderful and miraculous month of December, it is my prayer that we will become the very conduits of God’s grace and care as we “Bring the Hope of CHRISTmas to our Community.” It is also my prayer that there will be many “Lees” who will find this great gift to fill an empty heart. Do you know any?
Chaplain Ret. Maj. Daniel Middlebrooks is pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church. For more information, call (813) 767-2082 or email to chaplainmiddlebrooks@hotmail.com.