Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas
present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a
street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring
it.
"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was
astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost
you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what
he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother
like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to
his heels.
"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like
that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added,
"Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"
"Oh yes, I'd love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said,
"Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Paul smiled
a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show
his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul
was wrong again.
"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up
the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but
he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled
brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed
up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just
like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas
and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one
just like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty things
in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you
about."
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The
shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of
them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said:
"It is more blessed to give..."
My Holiday Wish for the World Is That We all Could Be Brothers Like
That.