We spoke about “Rachel Beckwith” the 9-year old girl who had an international dream that she already began to fulfill. Though she died at an accidents, her dream did not but it was achieved and she saved thousands of people when donations came from everywhere after her death. This is was not the only gift offered by Rachel but she save another person’s life when one of her kidneys was transferred after her death to a person diagnosed with renal failure. Life is full of scenes we saw day by day but I want to pause a little before these scenes.
Giving needs nothing but an honest and serious wish to start taking an action with the abilities at hand, even they were short and unable to get the mission achieved according to human calculations. These children, who reacted with great human feelings, offered a great support and help to others. Each of them had a dream that he started to work, plan, go for it and they succeeded as God supports every deed done with love.
Another point is that they deprived themselves from all their necessities, special pleasures like a meal they loved or a gift they wanted to receive, in order to offer happiness. A true giver gives out of his own necessities to draw happiness in the life of those who meet, and he himself would feel an abundant exquisite happiness. I recall some words I read about Charlie Chaplin, that he once recounted a story that he was going t the circus with his father and while they were waiting for their turn to buy tickets, he saw a family consisting of a father, a mother and their six children whose clothes indicated they were poor. The children waited dreaming what they were going to see at the circus and when their turn to buy the tickets has come, the father discovered he had no enough money to buy them. Charlie’s father got a banknote of his pocket and threw it on the ground, then he kneeled down to take it and offered it to the father saying, “You dropped some money”. The man looked at him with his eyes glittering out of thankful and grateful tears. He had no other choice but to accept the money lest he feel embarrassed before his children. When the family marched over to enter the circus, Charlie’s father took him home. This money was all he owned that day. Thus Charlie says, “Since that day, I have become very proud to be the son of that father, it was the best show even if I had not seen it” You may be happy when you won, but you would feel extraordinary happiness when you give and make weary hearts full of sadness and troubles happy again.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
