BY DAVID S. BLANCHARD, CONSULTING MINISTER, UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF UTICA, NEW YORK
When I grow up, I want to be just like Samuel J. Stone.
He’s my Christmas hero—a very human St. Nick.
I just happened to read about him in the newspaper, in an article that his grandson wrote about him and a long hidden secret that only recently came to light.
What Samuel J. Stone did was not really all that remarkable. He gave away $760. But Samuel J. Stone gave away his $760 in 1933. He did it in the town of Canton, Ohio. He did it at Christmas time, in the midst of the Depression—when people were out of work,out of luck, out of hope.
Samuel J. Stone decided to give his money away in a very clever way. He felt the urge to fulfill a deep sense of generosity and gratitude for the blessings of his own life, but he chose to do it without revealing who he was. He was perhaps the original “Secret Santa.” (That he was Jewish just makes the story all the richer….)
He placed an ad in the Canton Repository—the local newspaper—in early December, 1933. It stated that a “Mr. B. Virdot” would send a check to assist families who were without work or warmth, food or medicine, housing or strength. The donor asked only that people write him care of a post office box and describe their need. Hundreds wrote letters, and 150 of those people received a check, signed, “B. Virdot.” Some of the checks were for as little as $5. But it did not matter. A bleak time was made brighter for hundreds of people, who had really no one to thank. But that was a part of the brilliance of Samuel J. Stone’s generosity. (The fictitious moniker was a blend of his daughters’ names: Barbara, Virginia, and Dorothy.)
December Generosity
Indeed, as David Blanchard reminds us, you do know that gifts made before December 31st are tax deductible for 2009 in the United States…. As the year closes, your charitable gifts to the CLF will, as always, be most gratefully received. Your offerings can be given through the enclosed envelope or through our website. In addition to cash gifts, think about making a gift of securities or IRA assets—these types of gifts are simple to execute, and often have additional tax advantages benefitting you as well as the CLF. Call us, or visit the CLF website to find out more.
Because December truly is the season when most gifts are given, visit our homepage and start your gift shopping by clicking the Amazon.com icon on the CLF home page. A portion of the proceeds from your purchases will then come directly to the CLF— adding a new dimension to your generosity. Of course, we also have a variety of gift options, including lovely chalice jewelry, at the CLF Shop. Thank you for your support, which enables this congregation, your congregation, to thrive.
Last summer, a man was going through an old suitcase that had belonged to his grandfather. It had been in the attic of his grandparents’ house for years and almost was sent to the dump. But inside the old suitcase were 150 cancelled checks and a tiny bankbook recording the deposit of $760 and the disposition of $760. Also the suitcase held dozens and dozens of letters from the people who wrote of their need, their shame at asking for charity, their wish to one day repay him. The letters written in 1933 could well have been written in this current season of heartbreaking unemployment.
After reading the story of Samuel J. Stone, I found myself thinking about this whole holiday season in a whole new light…or perhaps in a rather old light, made new by the bright example of someone so very nearly forgotten.
Of course, the literature of Christmas is chock-a-block full of stories of generosity. The very first story tells of the gifts—albeit bizarre gifts—that the Wise Men came toting to the baby Jesus in the manger of Bethlehem. But the more contemporary stories are also stories of the discovery of generosity deep within the well of the human soul: be it that of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch, or even Charlie Brown’s pal Lucy Van Pelt. The whole enterprise of Santa Claus swirls around the business of giving gifts. And there have been countless stories written over time that describe the challenge of giving just the right gift. ”The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry comes to mind, as do all the stories about the fictional characters of the Nativity who wonder what to bring the little baby. “What have I to give?” is the familiar refrain to those slightly cloying tales….
And so as the hours tick down to gift-giving deadlines, some of us may still be asking ourselves: What have I to give? We may not be asking because we have nothing ready for the holidays, but rather, we may be aware on some level that what we are giving does not quite rise up to our deepest potential to give. (And by this I do not mean with regard to riches.) There is a deeper consciousness of both the need and the impulse toward generosity in this curious season, and sometimes we struggle to find the right role models to follow. That’s why I had to tell you about Samuel J. Stone.
I am not here to counsel you on your tax deductible charitable giving, though you do know that gifts made before December 31st are…well, anyhow….
I am here to offer a few thoughts on what it is you do have to give…. What it is I know you have to offer the world…. What it is that might allow you to honor the spirit of the season as modeled by this Jewish man from Ohio some 75 years ago.
I am not the sort who advises people to live in a state of denial about the real challenges and struggles that come into each of our lives. Sometimes almost everyone else is better off than we are—but not usually, and even when it is true, it doesn’t really do much good to linger over the reality of such circumstances.
What I am hoping to leave you with is that old question: What have I to give? And to offer just a few options that I know exist in great abundance among you: \You have time to give: to sit quietly with someone who needs your help, your attention, your skills, and your wisdom. None of us is nearly as busy as we imagine.
You have trust to give: to let someone know that you can see the very best in them when they might not see it themselves. Cheer them on and remind them that they are never alone.
You have humor to give: a little bit of laughter, a good-natured tease, a lighter spirit to remind someone who needs it that there is light at the end of every tunnel—even if, as the greeting card proclaims, it is the light of an oncoming train.
You have memory to share: to recall with another something beautiful about the past that may be dim to their memory. To let another person know that something wonderful that they did a very long time ago has not been forgotten— and never will be.
You have kindness to give: not necessarily the sort that would get written up in the newspaper, but the kind that makes the world a little bit more enjoyable to inhabit. When it comes to kindness, the best advice I ever got was this: “Think small. And just keep repeating.”
You have love to give: And when I speak of love I am not talking about romance—which I am all for—but the kind of love that is unconditional and unearned. I am not thinking about generic friendliness or modest good cheer. I am talking about the kind of feeling that lives deep down that lets us say to another, freely and unashamedly: “I love you.” Try it a few times. Shock the socks off your father, or your sister, or your childhood pal…or, for practice, try saying it in the mirror. That’s where it has to start.
What have I to give? These are just a few of the things that might bring light and healing and hope to this weary world. You will have others that you alone are intended to share—and not only in this singular season, but in every season of the year.
And the only other requirement I’d extrapolate from my hero’s example is that it is always most precious when we have no expectation to receive anything in return. A pure gift of the heart, which might take the form of a check, as it did for Mr. Stone, or an arm around our shoulder on Christmas Eve. Give it all away…and put the reminders in an old suitcase in the attic of your mind. What we give away, we miraculously keep. May it be so for each of us.
Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-2823, U.S.
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