One of the major problems in our world today is that so
many of us only
seem to care about ourselves. It gets harder and more difficult to find
people who actually care about others. We sometimes lose perspective of the difference we can make, when we
care more of our giving and care less of what we take.
Through
every trial and moment of pain, we should stand together to help one another.
Sometimes the hand of a stranger comes along and lifts up our
hearts...Our responsibility is to continue that selfless act of love and
pass on the blessings and comfort to others. The way we act and react
towards the people in need is a direct reflection of our own life.
Let
us learn from the following true story taken from the November 18, 2006
AOL News. According to the article, grave
illness unmasks the 'Secret Santa,' the generous
man who has been giving money to the needy. He
has revealed himself
to pass mission on to others.
KANSAS
CITY, Mo. (Nov. 17, 2006) - The answer to one of the
happiest mysteries in the Kansas City area is
being revealed this year. A man who has given
away millions
of dollars and become known as Secret Santa for
handing out Christmas cash to the needy is
allowing his name to be publicized after 26
years.
But
the reason for the revelation is an unhappy one.
Secret Santa has cancer. He wants to start
speaking to community groups about his belief in
random acts of kindness, but he can't do that
without telling people who he is.
The
man who has spread cheer for 26 years is Larry
Stewart, 58, of Lee's Summit, who made his
millions in cable television and long-distance
telephone service.
Stewart
told The Kansas City Star that he was the man
who would walk up to complete strangers, hand
them $100 bills, wish them "Merry
Christmas" and walk away, leaving
astonished and grateful people in his wake. He
handed out money throughout the year, but he
said it was the Christmas giving that gave him
the most joy.
Now,
he wants to inspire others to do the same. He
said he thinks that people should know that he
was born poor, was briefly homeless, dropped out
of college, has been fired from jobs, and once
even considered robbery.
But
he said every time he hit a low point in his
life, someone gave him money, food and hope, and
that's why he has devoted his life to returning
the favors.
Stewart
grew up in Bruce, Miss., reared by his elderly
grandparents,
who survived on $33 a month and welfare staples.
They heated water on the stove for baths and
used an outhouse.
After
he left home and college, he found himself out
of work in 1971. After sleeping in his car for
eight nights and not eating for two days,
Stewart went to the Dixie Diner in Houston,
Miss., and ordered breakfast. When the bill
came, he acted as if he'd lost his wallet.
The
diner owner came to him. "You
must have dropped this," the owner said,
slipping a $20 bill into the young man's hand.
He
paid, pushed his car to the gas station, and
left town. But he vowed to remember the
stranger's kindness, and to help others, when he
could.
He
arrived in Kansas City because he had a cousin
here. He got married and started his own
company, with money from his father-in-law. But
the company failed in 1977 and he couldn't pay
the bills. It was the lowest point in his life.
"I
was a failure in business. I was a failure as a
husband. I was a failure as a father," he
remembers thinking.
He
got into his car with a handgun and thought
about robbing a store. But he stopped and went
home - and got a call from his brother-in-law,
offering him money to tide him over.
After
being fired from two jobs on two successive
Christmases, Stewart stopped at a drive-in.
Although he had little money himself, Stewart
gave a cold and miserable carhop the change from
a $20, much to her delight.
That's
when Stewart's mission to secretly give away
money at the holidays began.
Eventually,
Stewart became a success and started Network
Communications in 2002. The firm used
independent sales agents to enroll customers for
Sprint long-distance service.
In
1996, an arbitration panel ordered Sprint to pay
Network and its sales agents $60.9 million in
commissions it owed. Stewart got $5.2 million. The
poor boy from Mississippi now had a family,
lived in a nice house and drove nice cars.
So,
he started giving away more money, to dozens of
causes. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The
Salvation Army. The National Paralysis
Foundation. The ALS Foundation. He supports the
Metropolitan Crime Commission's Surviving Spouse
and Family Endowment program.
And,
all along, he gave away money to needy
strangers. But Christmas was special. He'd
distribute thousands of dollars during visits to
coin laundries, thrift stores, barbershops and
diners. People shouted with joy, cried, praised
the Lord, and thanked Stewart repeatedly. But
Secret Santa moved on quickly to avoid
attention.
He
did sometimes invite newspaper and TV reporters
along, if they promised not to reveal his
identity. It was reporters who dubbed him
"Secret Santa."
In
1989, after some people chased his car when they
saw the cash he carried, he decided he needed
protection. He called Jackson County Sheriff's
Capt. Tom Phillips. "I thought, 'OK, this
guy's nuts,"' recalls Phillips, now the
Jackson County sheriff. "But at the end of
the day, I was in tears - literally - just
seeing what he did to people."
Eventually,
Secret Santa took his sleigh ride to other
places. In 2001, after the terrorist attacks, he
went to New York. The New York cop who
accompanied him said he'd never forget the
experience.
In
2002, Secret Santa was in Washington, D.C.,
victimized by the serial snipers. In 2003, it
was San Diego neighborhoods devastated by
wildfires. And in 2004, he was in Florida,
helping thousands left homeless by three
hurricanes. Last Christmas, Secret Santa went
back to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina
battered the Gulf Coast.
He
stopped in Houston, Miss., where the diner owner
had helped him so many years ago. On a previous
visit he had surprised the owner, Ted Horn, with
$10,000. This time, they stamped $100 bills with
the name "Ted Horn," and gave Horn
money to distribute. And Horn took money from
his own bank account to give away, too.
Stewart
has enlisted "elves" for years -
George Brett, the late Buck O'Neil, Dick Butkus.
He's already inspired copycats. Four other
Secret Santas plan to distribute a total of
$70,000 of their own cash this year.
And
Secret Santa plans to give away $100,000 this
year. Since he started, he estimates he's given
out more than $1.3 million in Christmas cash.
But this will likely be the last Christmas for
Stewart's tradition. In April, 2006 doctors told
Stewart that he had cancer of the esophagus. It
had spread to his liver. He needed treatment,
fast.
With
help from Brett, he got into a clinical trial at
the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.
Doctors tell him the tumors have shrunk, but
they can't say whether the cancer is in
remission.
"I
pray for that man every single day," former
Kansas City Chiefs star Deron Cherry - one of
Stewart's elves - says. "There's a lot of
people praying for him."
January
13, 2007 Update -
Larry Stewart,
a millionaire who became
known as Secret Santa for his habit of
roaming the streets each December and
anonymously handing money to people, died
Friday, January 13, 2007 He
was
58. Stewart died from complications
from esophageal cancer, said Jackson
County Sheriff Tom Phillips, a longtime
friend.
By Tim Pedrosa
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Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility.
Consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only
to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ~Philippians 2:3 and 4~
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for
awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the
same.
|
Tim
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