February 15 & 16!

For four years, NPR aired a series called This I Believe, short essays from folks from all walks of life.

They aired Colin Powell’s essay on April 11, 2005. He called it “The America I Believe In.” He ended his piece this way:

“Last year I met with a group of Brazilian exchange students who had spent a few weeks in America. I asked them to tell me about their experience here. One young girl told me about the night the 12 students went to a fast food restaurant in Chicago. They ate and then realized they did not have enough money to pay the bill. They were way short. Frightened, they finally told the waitress of their problem. She went away and she came back in a little while saying, “I talked to the manager and he said, ‘It’s OK.’ The students were still concerned because they thought the waitress might have to pay for it out of her salary. She smiled and said, ‘No, the manager said he is glad you are here in the United States. He hopes you are having a good time, he hopes you are learning all about us. He said it’s on him.’

It is a story that those young Brazilian kids have told over and over about America. That’s the America I believe in, that’s the America the world wants to believe in.”

That manager, by his generosity, was Jesus to those 12 kids. Their perspective was changed. Their lives were changed. I was changed. That’s what the generosity of Jesus does.