Merry Christmas! For my final blog post of 2011, allow me to give you a Christmas reminder from my special friend, Albert, who shared his favorite memory of Christmas past, as part of a tradition we had. Albert was a leader, solid in every way. I loved that man.
He grew up poor, not different from anyone else at the time. His parents were sharecroppers, and hard work defined their existence. As the youngest child, Albert's older siblings cared for him a lot. He got 5 cents each Saturday to walk to town, see a movie or to get ice cream. He could not afford both.
Each year at Christmas, he wished for the same gift - a bicycle. Each year it did not come. Instead, he always received the same gift - 2 oranges, a banana and an apple. When Albert was 9, he again wished to Santa for a bike. Albert asked his mother, and prayed to God, "Please bring me a bike." That Christmas, he woke up - and discovered, yet again, no bike had arrived. Just the same basket of 2 oranges, a banana, and an apple.
As lunch approached, his older sister, Ruth, a mill worker in the cotton mill in town came walking in the house. She worked hard to scrounge together enough to feed her own three kids.
After Christmas lunch, Ruth said, "Albert, I brought you my present." Albert quickly ran outside to see - and there it was - a new red bicycle - salvation had come to a 9 year old boy!
That bike meant something to Albert. It meant he had finally received what he had been hoping for for years. It also meant he had a sister who loved him immensely. Best of all, it meant someone really, really cared. So Albert did what any boy would do, he slept with his bike. For a whole year!
May one of your gifts remind you that there is Someone who loves you immensely. Someone who really, really cares.
 | About Allen Hunt Allen Hunt is a former Senior Pastor of an evangelical mega-church. He became Catholic in 2008 and now partners with Matthew Kelly to serve as the Vice-President for Strategy and Content at the Dynamic Catholic Institute. Allen is a speaker, writer, and radio host on News Talk WSB in Atlanta. He is the author of Confessions of a Mega-Church Pastor: How I Discovered the Hidden Treasures of the Catholic Church. |
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