” Every good thing
given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17).
Hey Gang: If you did
not tune in the last Gramps Morning Thought you need to do so to get the whole
story. The reporter was very persistent
and continued to turn up the heat on the judge, but in each test of his ‘hugging
promise’, the results were the same –people were eager to have the judge give
them a hug!
The same offers were made and accepted by a San Francisco
bus driver and police man, both who had reputations of being tough and very
unloving. Finally, the reporter said, “I
must admit, “I’m impressed”. Perhaps
the reporter would have been the better test of the judges “Hug Theory” at that
moment.
But the story did not end there. One day Lee’s friend, a professional clown,
showed up on his doorstep and said, “Grab your ‘Hugging Kits’ and let’s go to
the home for the disabled.” Lee confessed he was not sure how his ‘hearts for
hugs’ would work with terminally ill, severely retarded and quadriplegics. But his concerns were soon put to rest and
readily accepted the offer. As they
worked their way through the various wards, Nancy, the clown had picked up an
entourage of doctors, nurses and orderlies who following them from ward to
ward.
After several hours, they came to the last ward which was
home to 34 of the worst cases Lee had seen in his life. He was certain the true meaning of ‘hearts
for hugs’ would not penetrate to the hearts of these poor souls but, after
several, he learned love has no
boundaries. They received hugs and love
readily; patients returned that love as quickly as the person on the street-
the meter maid, the bus driver and police officer.
Finally, they came to the last person, Leonard. Leonard was wearing a big white bib, on which
he was drooling. Lee looked at Leonard
and said to Nancy, “No use here, there is nothing that will reach a person like
Leonard”. Nancy replied, “Come on, Lee,
he’s a fellow human being, too, isn’t he?”
Then she placed a funny hat on Leonard’s head. Lee then took one of his little hearts and
placed it on Leonard’s bib and took a deep breath and leaned down and gave
Leonard a hug.
All of a sudden Leonard began to squeal, “Eeeeeehh! Eeeeeehh!”
Some of the other patients began to clang things together. Lee turned to the staff for some sort of
explanation, only to find that every doctor, nurse and orderly was crying. “Why”, Lee asked? Lee never forgot what she said, “This is the
first time in 23 years we’ve seen Leonard smile!”
Why do I tell you this story at this time? Our world has become so very impersonal. We
feel that, if we find that very special gift and wrap it in beautiful wrapping
and place a bow on it, it will build a binding love relationship forever. But,
stop for a moment and think back to last Christmas, who gave you what? In our life-time we have learned that it is
not the things of this world that we give that makes the heart grow fonder, but
rather how I came to the aid of “the
least of these my brothers” that makes an immediate deposit in our love
bank. A deposit we can draw on for a lifetime!
Our prayer to you this day is that you take to heart the
words of Lee Shapiro: It is such a
simple thing to make a difference in the lives of others, a simple hug at the right moment can change a
life. But then again, my friends, there
are no simple “Hugs”. Let the love of
Jesus shine through you.
Blessings,
Gramps
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