Of course, as the Bible says, it’s better to give than receive, and yes as the Gospel of Luke puts it, if you give it will be given to you, and in the Old Testament, the book of Proverbs points out that the righteous gives and does not hold back. All of these principles are well known by my friend Debbie Macomber, one of my spiritual mentors.
Debbie makes a point of reading the Bible cover-to-cover every year. Recently she began a project of annotating a new copy every year and giving it to one of her grandchildren. I don’t doubt that she’s underlined some of those above passages. But more than that, she puts them into practice.
For any of you who don’t know Debbie, you might be familiar with her name, although as she wryly puts it, “I’m the most famous person you’ve never heard of.” Famous because she is the author of countless novels that have sold more than 170 million copies, and I’m always delighted when I see one of her titles at the checkout counter of the drugstore or in someone’s hands on the subway.
She would never brag about her talent, but let me tell you, she sure knows how to tell a good story, and she creates a world of real people, a world that is being recreated in its third season on TV, Cedar Cove starring Andie MacDowell on the Hallmark Channel.
For all her success, outrageous success, Debbie takes very little credit but instead gives it to God, with whom she trusts her writing dreams. Yes, she works hard, but the work is girded up by the happy work of prayer. Every morning, in addition to reading the Bible, she spends much time in prayer. Every morning. And then she goes for a swim.
I told you I consider her a spiritual mentor. Humility like hers is rare. I don’t mean the false humility of someone who brushes off a compliment, saying it was nothing while glorying in the attention, but someone who knows just where her gifts come from.
This year as I turned 60, she kept saying to me, “I have a birthday present for you. You’ll see.” I insisted that no present was necessary. Friendship was enough. But she had something in mind, something that seemed a little mysterious.
This week with the publication of her latest novel Silver Linings, I got to find out exactly what that present was. She sent me ten copies of the book, signed, and alerted me to look for the dedication. I turned to the page. There were these words, printed in ink. Printed in every copy:
Wanna see a grown man cry? Give him a gift like that. I don’t mind bragging about that.
