An Example for All of Us to Follow

So often, when we hear about pro-athletes in an area of the news other than the sports, it has to do with an arrest, drugs, or some other misbehavior. It is heart warming, therefore, to find the complete opposite. The following is from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's website and is written by Michael Hunt. It made me think about the blessings I have been given and how I am using them. You can read the article below or follow this link: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/34862104.html

By:Michael Hunt
"Redd dishes out assist"

Michael Redd's teammates keep asking when he's coming back.

Soon, Redd assures them, very soon.

And, yes, the need is urgent for the NBA all-star and Olympic gold medalist to return to the floor with the Milwaukee Bucks.

But sometimes, and Thursday was one of those sometimes, the words "urgent" and "need" take on a little more perspective than a basketball game.

"An ankle compared to the economic situation? There's nothing to compare," Redd said.
Redd had just finished giving 250 turkey dinners to disadvantaged families at the House of Peace, a Catholic charity that has long served the city's poor. Inspired by Ray Allen's work with the mission, Redd has been donating Thanksgiving cheer there for four years. But never has he seen times quite like these down on Walnut St., along a needy section in a needy town.

"Some had tears in their eyes," Redd said. "These people have nothing. This is their meal for Thanksgiving. These are tough times. It's the least I can do. It gives you a reality check with what we're going through in this country."

Sharita Williamson was transferring the food she had received from a cardboard box to a roller bag for the walk home amidst snow flurries.

"I'm on a fixed income and it's hard to get food, especially in this economy," she said. "Gas prices are down but everything else is sky-high. That's why this is such a blessing this year."

She knew Redd played for the Bucks but was surprised to see him personally handing out the food.

"That made it a little something extra," she said. "He's doing so much good, and God bless him."
As much as the people who filled the House of Peace needed the food, social worker Linda Barnes said they needed something else from Redd.

"They asked, 'Is Michael going to pray with us?'"

He did.

A spiritual man who lives his convictions, Redd bought his father a church back home in Columbus, Ohio, a few years ago.

"Part of it is that both of my parents are preachers," he said. "They were the perfect example. They were giving away cars when we could hardly afford a car. For me, this is only natural."

There is a Bible passage that goes something like, "To whom much is given, much is required." So sometimes, people get cynical about stuff like this. They know Redd makes $16 million a year, so what's the big deal about giving away turkey dinners?

To know, all you had to do was look in those wanting faces. Sure, a lot of wealthy pro athletes give back, but not many show up at a mission on a bad ankle on a day off just hours after getting in from Salt Lake City.

"No, not everybody," said Brother Mark Carrico, the House of Peace's executive director. "He likes us, and we sure like him."

Jim Van Hoven, regional director for the Capuchin ministry, said the House of Peace's distribution area now includes three Milwaukee ZIP codes, so great is the need. With help from many, it will continue to donate Thanksgiving dinners throughout next week.

Maybe by then, Redd will be back on the court. The Bucks really need him, but on a cold Thursday in the inner city, there were those who needed him more.

"This is what it's all about, right here," Redd said. "I look at it like this: I've been absolutely blessed, so I should give back. It's a genuine pleasure to give, especially in times like these."

A Christmas Alternative

One Black Friday in Orlando, Florida, several years ago, customers in a national discount chain store got into a brawl over laptop computers. The story made it to the national TV news: two men tackling another man and pulling him to the ground, because he had cut ahead of them in line. “It was absolute pandemonium in there,” said one observer. “They were throwing these laptops 20 feet into the air, and people were collapsing on each other to grab them.”What would Jesus make of that scene? Imagine him standing off to one side, in his robe and sandals. What sort of expression would he have on his face, knowing that all that brawling was set off by his birthday? That why those shoppers were doing it, wasn’t it — because they wanted to be first in line to honor Jesus’ birth?Of course it wasn’t! Sadly, the sort of holiday that issues in department-store riots has long since lost any resemblance to the celebration of the Messiah’s birth. Not only has the commercialized Christmas lost touch with its roots; from what we can see on CNN of the laptop wars, it’s even become demonic. How easy it is to get caught up in the rush, and end up, as Paul says, “doing the very thing we hate”!

This year my church will have an alternative to the commercialism that has come to dominate the secular celebration of Christmas. The alternative is our Alternative Gift List. Instead of buying gifts for family members and friends who already have everything they need, our alternative gift list will give people an opportunity to give money to a charity in the name of a friend or family member. For each donation in someone else’s name, you will receive a certificate stating that a donation was made by you in their name, and the name of the charity.

Giving a gift from the Alternative Gift List is a great way for us to remember and participate in the true meaning of Christmas. When we give to the poor and needy at Christmas, those gifts remind us that Jesus came to save the least, the lost, and the neediest in our world. We may not win the war with our culture over the true meaning of Christmas, but we can certainly choose a faithful alternative.