ThinkAloud | giving all

Measuring what we give

The child stood quietly in the busy shopping mall a few days before Christmas and looked hesitantly at the man in Salvation Army uniform who was looking after a nearly full Christmas cheer kettle.

Her eyes caught the smile on the man’s face as he greeted harried shoppers who stopped for brief moments to give to the Army and help the work of mercy. Then her voice rang out, loudly and imperiously, “Mommy, I want to give it all”– she tugged at her purse – “to that man because he helps poor people.”

The Army Captain was bone tired, and her head had been aching all day, though none of the needy people she ministered to knew it. She thought ruefully for a moment of her 36-hour week before becoming an officer and chuckled to herself. An 80-hour week plus was the order of the day now, especially at Christmas. “Oh Lord,” she prayed silently, “Keep the phone quiet tonight so I can catch up. I’ve given about all I have… there’s little left.”

*                    *                    *

Mary, large with her first pregnancy and with feet slightly puffy from the strain, looked with love and respect at Joseph and squeezed his hand. “You’ve given so much,” she murmured, “and even if people haven’t understood what happened to me, you have, and you’ve been obedient to our God. Thank you, Joseph, for giving all – your reputation, your hopes, your dreams….”

He hushed his wife and with a gentle touch caressed her face, so young for such a momentous undertaking. To be the mother of the One called Saviour! “I have given?” he thought with incredulity. “What about her? She gave her body, her mind, her very self and she allowed herself to be invaded by God.”

*                    *                    *

Everyman/everywoman wants life to be full to overflowing with meaning, relevance and success. The amenities are all in place. There is enough and to spare. Yet still there is the inner emptiness of having missed out on the true meaning of life.

When heaven opened for the tiniest fraction of a second, music of unearthly beauty poured forth with cadence and harmony not dreamed of on earth. And central to the music was an invitation from the One who had given all: “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11: 28).

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a copy editor of theRubicon and the author of theRubicon series called Resurrected Writers.

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