Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6:18
On my book shelf sits “Stretch,” a 1997 issue Ty Beanie Baby Ostrich that was given to me as a gift from the faculty and staff of Bass Memorial Academy while I was working there as principal. When they presented it to me, they said, “We are giving you this because you are always sticking your neck out for us.” What a nice compliment I received that day!
John Hancock may be famous for his signature, but he deserves to be remembered for so much more. For one thing, he stuck his neck out for his new country! Yes, he was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, but by that time he had already risked his life and his fortune to make it happen. England would have loved nothing more that to hang his millionaire neck by a rope. The signature just made his break with England official. Secondly, though he was something of a fashion conscious, primadonna, he was “a remarkably generous man” who gave not only to the American Revolution but to his neighbors and fellow Bostonians. If a person was in need, he was the “first to help” and didn’t mind spending his fortune “ostentatiously” if necessary. (Kiernan, p 39)
For all this he was adored. He was so loved that his request for a quiet funeral was completely ignored. Instead, there was a “huge procession, all pomp and circumstance…Bells rang, soldiers marched, stores closed, flags flew. It was a huge spectacle.” Rightfully so. The man who gave so much deserved no less.
(For more information see Signing Their Lives Away, by Denise Kiernan, 2009)
