Conspiracies of love

There was a little boy in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama---the place was called Acipco, which is an acronym for 'American Cast Iron Pipe Company'- who wanted a toy steam shovel for Christmas. His family did not possess the means to get one, and they weren't even sure they could find the toy, let alone buy it, in time for Christmas.

Then a remarkable thing happened: Through the efforts of many, the toy steam shovel appeared under the tree at Christmas. No one person was able to accomplish it alone: It took everyone working together to make it happen.

Bert Keller, who is pastor at Circular Congregational Church in Charleston, told the story from his childhood in a sermon some years back. I am certain didn't get the details right but I hope I got the gist. I relate the story because twice, very recently, there has been such a conspiracy centered on me.

First, just before Christmas, a group of folks got together and presented me with a lavish gift which transformed a bleak holiday season into a joyful one. Nobody did it alone---they just came together and made it happen.

Now I am going to New Orleans to run my first marathon. I can't afford air fare. I have not the means to pay for lodging there. Again, more than one person intervened to make it happen. A "buddy pass" airline ticket suddenly was made available by a friend whose brother is an airline pilot. A friend--an amazing woman whose grace and strength in the face of tragedy is an inspiration--has opened her home to me for the time I am there.

It is at such times when I think we are at our best: When we come together to lift up someone else, when we tap into the joy of helping others, when we reach out and lend our stength...I think we are ennobled and strengthened by the experience.

It is not the first time I've been so blessed. I wish I could find some way to reflect back not the substance of what was given, but the feeling I get inside at being the focus of such an effort.

That would be a way of paying it back.