A Dollar

We all desire good things for ourselves and for those we love, but what I have learned is that the needs of those who have less should come before our wants. What comes to mind is a story of a rich man in God, down to his last dollar.

This man loved God with all is heart and wanted to do more for people but just didn't have the finances. As he walked down the street, he decided to take a more scenic route through the park. He noticed a man in his 30’s, clearly homeless and sitting on a bench. He felt to give him what was in his pocket, which was the last dollar to his name. With some reservation, he handed the man the dollar; no words spoken. The homeless man reached out to grab the dollar. At that very moment during the exchange, the homeless man felt a peace and a joy unlike he had ever felt before. Not being able to explain this sense of peace, he too was at a loss of words. For just a moment, nothing existed but peace and joy as they flowed through the minds of the rich man and the homeless man.

Later that day while going through his daily activities of finding food and overlooked items, the homeless man came across some old wood thrown out by a dumpster. Instantly childhood memories of spending time in his father’s wood shop flooded his mind. With his father passing 3 years earlier ending his battle with a terminal disease, it was a sweet memory he had buried. Now with this surfaced memory, he had a desire to see if he still possessed the skills to create something from his past.

He gathered the pieces of wood and set out to find the needed items to assemble a child size rocking horse. Although the process took nearly a week, the rocking horse was perfect in his eyes. The horse was not neatly painted; it had different sized buttons for eyes; no hair for a tail; nor did it have the most important item, a saddle. It wasn't perfect to the naked eye but it was built with perfection.

Sitting in the same place where he received the dollar, he flashed back to the week prior. Putting his hand in his pocket, he realized he still had that dollar. He knew somehow it had done something for him that day. He made a promise to himself that he would never spend the dollar.

A woman driving by, late for a birthday party, saw the perfection of the horse. She pulled over and offered the man 50 dollars, all she had in her purse. With a smile he accepted her offer and kindly handed it over. It was then he made up his mind that after he got a bite to eat, he would purchase more building materials.

Within the week, he had assembled a couple of horses. Returning to his normal spot in the park, he displayed his work. Sometime later, a wealthy man noticed him and asked where he could find similar rocking horses. The homeless man said I have built these; they are one-of-a-kinds, individually unique. Being a craftsman himself, the wealthy man offered the homeless man 150 dollars for both of them. With joy and peace in his heart, he accepted the money, got a bit to eat and set out to build more.

After a month, this homeless man had more requests than he could imagine. Six months later, he had enough money to rent a small space. After two years, he had expanded his craft into his own little shop. Not forgetting how he got there, he still had that one dollar bill framed and hanging on the wall of his store.

Fourteen years had gone by and he was still contently in business. Not being a man of religion, he never knew, or cared to know, anything about church; one thing his father never shared. During his Sunday walk to and from the post office to drop off his many thank you letters, he passed a church and felt the urge to go in. With this being the beginning of the service, he soon found out today the church was having a guest speaker. The speaker was described as a man with a great passion for helping people find their real purpose. He took the mic, introduced himself and began to tell the story of how his life was changed the day he gave his last dollar away. He went on to say how he grew up modestly in this town but had now become a world traveler living abroad. People were so greatly touched of the wealthy man’s journey to good success.

The homeless man sat in the back, now in tears, never knowing the man who gave him the dollar or even what his voice sounded like...he couldn't believe he was standing 50 feet in front of him. There he was listening to this man speak of how he heard a voice telling him to give his last dollar; to give it ALL away in order to receive. The homeless man said to himself, ‘I heard that same voice tell me to come in.’

As the wealthy man wrapped up his speech, the homeless man ran back to his shop to retrieve that life changing dollar. As he made it back, on his last breath and everyone pretty much gone, he walked in to see the speaker saying his last goodbyes. Without any words spoken he handed the wealthy man the framed dollar.

After somewhat of a hesitation they both began to cry.