GIVING

Some time ago my wife gave me an interesting article that appeared in the Family Circle magazine, written by the horror novelist Stephen King.

(He wrote "The Shining" that was made into a movie with Jack Nicholson, which still gives me the 'willies.')

This writing was compelling, but not the Stephen King I had known. Listen to what he wrote.

In 1999, a motorist struck King as he walked along a rural road on a summer afternoon near his Center Lovell, Maine home. The accident nearly took his life. It took two years of rehab for him to recover.

He recounted in the article that, as he lay in the ditch, along that dark road, thinking he would die, he began to reflect on what is important in life.

Here is how he expressed it:

"We come into life naked and broke. When we go out, we may be dressed, but we are broke. ('We don't take anything with us.') Bill Gates, broke. Tom Hanks, broke. Stephen King, broke. Not a crying dime. No matter what you may have made or have, (when you die) it's still going to be a quarter-past getting late, whether your watch is a Rolex or a Timex."

Stephen King mused: "Sooner or later…the only three things you can call your own: your body, your mind, and your spirit. So, I want you to consider making your life one long gift to others. Why not? ALL THAT WE HAVE IS ON LOAN ANYWAY. ALL THAT LASTS IS WHAT YOU PASS ON."

King continued: "Giving is not about the receiver, or even the amount of the gift. It's for the giver… to improve oneself… giving is a way of taking the focus off the money we have and putting it back where it belongs… on the lives we lead, the families we raise, the communities that nurture us and we nurture. A life of giving - not just the money, but time and spirit - repays."

Wow! Did he get that right or what?

Stephen King concluded: "It helps us to remember that we are going out broke, but right now we're doing OK. Right now, we have the power to do great good for others." (Now, while we are alive, and at our passing through our estate planning.)

"So I ask you to begin giving generously. I think you will find you gave more than you ever had, and did more good than you ever dreamed."

All this from the master of horror, Stephen King.

I'm not glad he had the accident, but I'm glad he had an epiphany and the revelation that night. And glad he shared it with us.

Like the old farmer's mule, sometimes we have to be hit between the eyes with a twoby four to get our attention and see the light.

Stephen King got the whack and heard the message, loud and clear.

Has the two-by-four hit you yet? Have you heard the message, loud and clear?

Are you giving now, or have you planned to give at your 'graduation' (passing) what you are able to give?

WHAT WILL BE YOUR LEGACY? ALL THAT LASTS IS WHAT YOU PASS ON. ¦

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