I Was Standing at a busy bus terminal beside a young sister, when a thief slit her handbag with a knife, caught the contents, and ran off across the road. As soon as the traffic was clear, the sister crossed the road, faced the robber and said, “You slit my bag and stole my children’s lunch money.” “0 no I didn’t,” said the man. “0 yes you did. Please let me have it back. It’s all I’ve got to give the children.” Sheepishly, he slowly put his hand in his pocket and gave her everything. When she had counted it, she had more than she had before.
I Count Myself Blessed to have had as a lifelong friend a wonderful Jamaican woman Her name was Alice Blaine. In the 1930’s as a young teenager, she worked for a brother Randall, a Kingston merchant, who introduced her to the Christadelphians. She was very beautiful and became an actress at the Ward Theater. When she was in her mid-thirties she married. At the time she did not know that Mr. Blaine had neuro-syphilis. She was infected, and Alfred, their only child, was born with a severe congenital form of the disease. After barely a year of marriage, Mr. Blaine was certified insane and committed to the Bellevue asylum. Alice was baptised a few years later, which is when I first met her. A very meaningful moment for me was in 1995 when I accompanied her to the asylum on the day of her husband’s death. There and then I learned that she had taken a cooked dinner to her husband, a round trip by bus of twenty miles, every single day of every year for fifty years, even though during his later years he couldn’t even recognize her. “As a wife, it was my duty” she said simply. I know the Lord will reward such incredibly selfless dedication and faithfulness with a pain-free life that will know no ending.
Sister Myrtle Aiken Of Kingston, now nearly 97, loved to tell of two memorable moments in her life. At a bus stop on her way to work, she was held up by a gunman who demanded all her money. She only had 14 cents, just enough for the fares to and from work. With a gun on her chest, she pointed out to the gunman that if he took all 14 cents, she would be in trouble and lose her job. She offered to give him 7 cents and walk home, if he would allow her to take the bus so as to get to work on time. The robber agreed, took the 7 cents and disappeared round a corner. Some time later, he reappeared and returned the 7 cents he had taken, saying, I can’t take it, lady!
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One