Christmas Cheer

Last night I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex and took a moment to gather up my things. I had a few groceries and a collection of papers and books from work. I stepped out into the dark and heard a man say "hello" very near me. He apparently had been waiting for me to get out of my car. He was middle aged, had a casual look about him and he was holding something in his hands. I replied with a cheerful, but hesitant "hi". I assumed he was about to ask me for money. He stepped forward and reached out his hand with a folded piece of paper in it. "I'm not going to touch you," he said cautiously, "but I want to give you this. I'm spreading Christmas cheer". I took the paper. It was a hundred dollar bill. "Really?" "Yes. Merry Christmas". I said a genuine "thank you!" as he turned and walked away.

I was still in shock as I walked into the apartment and told Phillip about it. The whole thing was startling in so many ways. I know people do things like this (like Oprah's recent experiment of giving each of her audience members a thousand dollars to give away when they returned home) and it wasn't so much money but its such a strange thing when it happens to you. Phillip went back outside to thank the man. We were having a debate just that day about which problems with his truck we could afford to get fixed before he tries to make the trip to Bristol this weekend. The man told him that he had been trying to flag down cars, but people just avoided him and drove on. He said they didn't know what they were missing, just like the Bible. Phillip spent the rest of the night worrying about him. Wondering what would make someone do that, and if the man might be unhappy or lonely.

I like to think he just felt called to be generous and he chose that way to do it. I won't go on and on with stories of how God has moved people to give in mine and my family's life but He has in extraordinary ways. What struck me most about this whole thing was the way in which this man chose to be generous. He didn't carefully evaluate a charity based on their financial statement (as I do...) he didn't get pressured into giving in a certain way by his workplace or his church. He didn't ask if I needed the money, or if I was going to go out and spend it frivolously. He just gave to spread joy. And he did.