JOY Of GIVING (Spirit Of Christmas)

One of the great Hollywood actresses, Katherine Hepburn was possibly the only person who won the Oscar Award four times, apart from being nominated a dozen times, but was never present in the grand ceremony to receive it.

She had a strong belief that only the affection and love of the people who enjoyed her acting and cinema was the greatest reward for her.

Katherine Hepburn was from a middle class family with a modest upbringing. But, her parents instilled strong values in their growing up days.

Once when she was a teenager, her father and she were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

Finally, there was only one other family between them and the ticket counter.

This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12.

The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn’t have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.

The children were well behaved. All of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands.

They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night. By their excitement, you could sense they had never been to the circus before.

It would be a highlight of their lives.

The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be.

The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You’re my knight in shining armor.”

He was smiling and enjoying seeing his family happy.

The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted?

He proudly responded, “I’d like to buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.”

The ticket lady stated the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man’s lip began to quiver.

Then he leaned a little closer and asked, “How much did you say?”

The ticket lady again stated the price.

The man didn’t have enough money.

How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?

Seeing what was going on, her dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on the ground. (They were not wealthy in any sense of the word!)

Her father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.”

The man understood what was going on. He wasn’t begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation.

He looked straight into her dad’s eyes, took her dad’s hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied; “Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.”

Her father and Katherine went back to their car and drove home.

The $20 that her dad gave away is what they were going to buy their own tickets with.

Although they didn’t get to see the circus that night, they both felt a joy inside them that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide.

Moral :

LEARN the value of Giving.

If you want to be large… larger than life, learn to Give.

The Giver is bigger than the Receiver.

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get –
it is only concerned with what you are willing to give, which is everything.

Giving up what you love is SACRIFICE…. It is called TYAGARCHANA.

Love, Sacrifice and Service is what God wants from us.

If we introspect…we realize…we are Blessed.

MUCH is given to US
hence
MUCH is expected of US.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS…NAME THEM ONE BY ONE

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022

God bless!!

Reena Charles
Ek Ehsaas Foundation ( EEF) Delhi