Do you ever wonder why some people choose to remain “anonymous” when offering charity? Many believe that a life-changing gift should be given for purpose, not for recognition. The true test of goodwill is the silent offering of selfless sacrifice.
Roger Knapp shared this story about the greatest gift.
Read the events below.
“Can I see my baby?” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears. Time proved that the baby’s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred.
When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks.
He blurted out the tragedy. “A boy, a big boy … called me a freak.”
He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might mingle with other young people,” his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart.
The boy’s father had a session with the family physician. Could nothing be done? “I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured,” the doctor decided.
The search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by.
Then the news came. “You are going to the hospital, Son. Mother and I have found someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’s a secret,” said the father. The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs. Later he married and lived a successful life. “But I must know!” He urged his father, “Who gave up so much for me? I could never do enough to thank him.”
“I don’t believe you could,” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know … at least not yet.”
The years past, and the secret was kept. But then the day came. It was one of the darkest days that a son could endure. He stood with his father over his mother’s casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to reveal the secret. His mother had no outer ears.
“Your mother said she was glad that she never let her hair get cut,” he whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought her any less beautiful, did they?”
Appearances wither, and bodies decay, but another kind of beauty remains forever in the heart. This rare beauty can never fade. It will never get old, and it will never die. In its truest form, it is everlasting.
“You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” – Song of Solomon 4:7
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