Miracles

“Difficulty is a miracle in the first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty, but impossibility.” 
S.D. Gordon


Since its inception, Project C.U.R.E. has been characterized by a culture of consecutive miracles. There has grown up around the organization an expectation that the difficulties that face us on a regular basis are there as challenges, and those challenges are interpreted as opportunities for God to show his mighty faithfulness through our consistent endeavors.  

Many times we have faced the “impossible” and others around us were certain that the time had come for us to quietly fold our tents and sneak off into the dark shadows of defeat and mediocrity. But, those times of “impossibility” have simply become occasions for God to not just work a miracle, but, rather, to perform a “great miracle” before our eyes. It seems to me that our very existence, after 25 years of delivering health and hope to a needy world, is proof certain that God is still in the “great miracle” business. 

I loved to return to Denver from my international trips and sense the excitement of our volunteers and staff at Project C.U.R.E. They would line up at my office door or catch me out in the warehouse. In almost breathless recitation they would tell me of the most recent miracles that had taken place while I had been away. In fact, many would tell me, “I come to work at Project C.U.R.E. every day because I know if I miss a day of being here I will miss out on one of the miracles.” 

One such report came to me from one of our Denver warehouse directors, named Justin. While I had been in Nagorno Karabakh I had witnessed the sad devastation of the country and the maiming and crippling of many of the victims. The constant bombing and the hidden land mines had left so many of the victims without arms or legs. Many others needed physical rehabilitation in order to be restored to health. I had promised the doctors and nurses, as well as Baroness Caroline Cox, that Project C.U.R.E. would help them in establishing a physical rehabilitation facility to be located in the city of Stepanakert. 

When I returned to Denver from Nagorno Karabakh, I had found out that we had sent all the rehabilitation equipment that we had collected in our warehouse inventory to a hospital in Turkey. What would we do? The time was quickly approaching when we had to ship the ocean going cargo container into Yerevan, Armenia to be transported by land to Stepanakert. Justin and his crew began to pray for the people in Nagorno Karabakh, and that a miracle would take place allowing us to receive the needed rehabilitation equipment and prosthesis pieces. They kept the list of needed things for Karabakh right on their desk in the warehouse. 

Then, one day our warehouse was notified that a large truck would soon be arriving at our docks. The truck was loaded with medical goods that had been donated to Project C.U.R.E. by a prominent medical company. But, Justin did not know what would be on the arriving truck. When the truck backed into the dock space, the driver hopped out and handed to Justin a manifest of all the donated contents in the truck. 

“Jim, it was a miracle, an absolute miracle,” Justin said to me with tears welling up in his expressive eyes. “Jerry and I stood there, and I had the manifest of the new load from the truck that had just arrived in one hand and the list of needed equipment and prosthesis pieces for the Nagorno Karabakh load in my other hand. The two lists were almost identical. Jim, it was a miracle,” he told me. “When we arrived at the warehouse that morning we didn’t have what we needed. Then within the next hour we had everything we needed to send. Now they will have almost everything they requested to complete the rehabilitation center, plus lots and lots more medical supplies than they even expected! We have just been a part of a miracle.” 

When was the last time you were directly involved in a “great miracle?” Or, have you ever experienced such a thing in your life? I dare you, today, to look at the difficulties that are facing you right now and view them not as impediments or enemies. See them as “miracles in the first stage.” And remember, if your situation is going to require a great miracle, the condition will probably not just be difficult, but impossible!

Compassion in Vietnam

We define ourselves by our own response to human need. We become engaged through the perception of our own obligation and opportunity. 

War didn’t call me into Vietnam . . . but human need did! My first trip into Saigon was in early 1996. As a result of that trip I was introduced to a precious lady named Binh Rybacki. Binh was a native of Vietnam and was one of the last to be plucked off the roof of the American Embassy by helicopter in Saigon as the Americans were in hot retreat from the city in 1975. She and her family had tied their wrists together so that none could be left behind. 

Binh’s father was a professor at the prestigious University of Saigon and the family was well off financially. Binh was a student. Vietnam was just coming out of one war and was presently engaged in a vicious civil war with the Communists from the North. One day the students found a large notice posted on the bulletin board. It stated that all the students of the English Department would be killed very soon. They all laughed at the incredulous impossibility. But the officials of the school told them that the notice was serious and that they needed to go away to find their own protection. The priest of the school even gave them their last rites just in case he would not be around to do it later. The Communists entered Saigon and began randomly killing the students at the University, as well as thousands in the city. Binh and her friend escaped from an upstairs window and onto a roof and down into a dumpster, thinking that the killing would stop and the Communists would leave. But they didn’t. 

Binh’s sister worked for the US Embassy in Saigon, so their whole family was targeted for death by the Communists. As the Embassy loudspeakers played Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” the last helicopter lifted from the Embassy roof and Binh and her family were on that chopper! They were flown to Fort Chafee, Arkansas, and eventually resettled with a host family in Loveland, Colorado. Binh started her career with Hewlett Packard, married her husband, Jack, and together they had three boys. When her mother died in America, Binh felt compelled to return to Vietnam for the first time to find her Mother’s closest friend, a nun, and inform her of the death. 

Binh eventually found the friend hiding in the countryside, illegally harboring 27 orphaned children. Binh discovered that the set of circumstances in which you find yourself will determine where you can start, but will not determine where you can go in order to change things. She made a vow to get involved. She told me, “The message was very clear even if the way was not!” 

By 1998, the orphanage that started with 27 hidden children grew under the leadership of Binh to four remarkable orphanages with 1600 abandoned kids.. Binh and her husband, Jack, pledged Binh’s entire salary from Hewlett Packard to personally underwrite the orphanage work. With her traveling back and forth from USA to Vietnam, the orphanage project experienced remarkable blessing and grew rapidly. 
 

Project C.U.R.E. was privileged to get involved with Binh’s venture and deliver over $2 million worth of donated medical goods to the Children of Peace organization and surrounding hospitals in Vietnam. The Vietnamese children were “better off,” the Children of Peace organization was “better off,” but, undeniably, Project C.U.R.E. experienced the greatest benefit, from being associated with such a great lady as Binh Rybacki. We became first-hand witnesses of a miracle that took place in the heart and life of a lady who defined her own life by her response to human need. She became engaged through the perception of her own obligation and a ready opportunity.

Stolen Goods

Martin Luther once quipped that, “If our goods are not available to the community, they are stolen goods.” 

This past Christmas our family had the exquisite opportunity to open our Colorado mountain home and our hearts to a lovely family we had met in our travels to Brazil. The husband and wife are each medical doctors, and at one time or another four members of our immediate family had been guests in their Brazilian home. They brought with them their three sons, plus another Brazilian teen- aged boy. In addition to our two sons and their kiddos, our younger son brought his new wife and their two teen-aged sons. And that, indeed, made a houseful! 

As the festivities of the Christmas day rolled on, I found a quiet spot by the blazing fireplace and for a few moments I became an observer, rather than an engaged participant. I watched the mingling of the families and the love that flowed through their conversations, jokes and hugs. I allowed my mind to revisit the country of Brazil and the dramatic needs there and the rampant poverty of the favelas. I was at peace knowing that we, as a family, not only were concerned on a daily basis with the hurts, trauma and destitution of the needy people around the world, but that in the simplicity of our own home we were willing to open up ourselves and share with others those goods that had been allowed to us. The goods that we had were not being hoarded but, rather, they were being made available to others of the community. They were not “stolen goods.” 

Somewhere along the line we had been allowed to discover that our greatest fulfillment in living was being realized through our giving of ourselves and the things we possessed. The things that we would hoard in life would only be left and fought over by others, but the things that we would share with others around us would continue to keep on giving forever. 

The culture around us has drummed into our heads that we must accumulate for ourselves and ardently hold fast to those collected things with the tenacious belief that if we fail in hanging on we will always somehow be without quite enough. The sad result of that thinking is an anxiety about today and a fear of not having quite enough for tomorrow. It squelches the simple belief that God is in control and is eager to graciously supply all that is needed to those who resist dealing in stolen goods. That simplicity of life escapes those who refuse to relinquish and share with those in need that which has been given to them in the first place. 

While sitting by the warm hearth and glowing fire, I reaffirmed that I enjoy the simple life of love and sharing. I want my family to see and also enjoy that kind of life. I desire a personal life free of anxiety and determine to cling to the belief that all of my needs will continue to be met as I make certain that enough of those people around me are being made “better off.”

Seeking Truth


Many old, salty sea captains have managed to sail their ships back to the safety of harbor lights with nothing more than a magnetized sewing needle balanced on a cork, floating in a cup of water. That was the only compass they needed to get back to the comforts of home and hearth. And while it is touted that a compass never lies, yet, it can deceive you. The direction of "north" that your compass gives you just might be wrong. Compasses point toward the magnetic north pole, located near Ellesmere Island in North Canada. But true north is not there. It is over 70 miles away. Depending on where in the world you are located, the difference between where your compass is pointing and where you are in relation to true north can be considerable.

When I was just a kid, I learned that it was possible to take even the finest compass and make it tell you that north was anywhere you wanted it to be. All you needed was a cheap refrigerator magnet close by and you could perform miracles. No longer would the needle of the compass point to earth's magnetic north, but to wherever the refrigerator magnet was placed in close proximity. Of course, the accuracy and utility of the compass was completely spoiled. No longer would it perform the function for which it was designed. No salty sea captain would set his cup of water, cork, and magnetized sewing needle on top of a refrigerator magnet and expect to sail safely home.

Through the years I have been concerned about how easy it is for folks to employ their handy refrigerator magnet to situations of life and truth. It doesn't take much for someone to slip their refrigerator magnet onto the table and proclaim that "north" is precisely where they say it is. I have become increasingly bothered with the proliferation of "relative truth" and the difficulty of determining "True North." While growing up, I used to wonder why glib politicians were referred to as having magnetic personalities. Today, I think I better understand. With their handy little refrigerator magnet they can change the compass direction of "north" two, three, four times in a day, or even a debate. But, where precisely is True North?

I was traveling in the Bulgarian city of Hoskovo, performing a medical Needs Assessment for Project C.U.R.E. I struck up a conversation with one of the health officials, a former officer of the Soviet Union. We began talking about what it had been like to live in the country prior to the collapse of the Soviet regime. "Everything was relative," he said. "You never knew just what to expect as 'truth.' You could only depend on what you were told at the moment and you were expected to respond accordingly. Everything was relative with no unattached or independent 'absolutes.'" Then he related a story to explain his point."

There was a certain clock shop on the main street of our town. The man who operated the shop had a good reputation in the community. He was conscientious and kind, and knew a lot about clocks. On the back wall of his shop he had on display a large and beautifully hand carved clock with an expensive and precise set of works inside. It was, indeed, a masterpiece and kept very accurate time. The clock man loved the clock and was very proud of it."

My new friend went on to tell me, "Everyday, an important-looking man walked by the clock shop. He would stop momentarily and study the clock on the back wall. He would then pull out his own pocket watch that was attached to his jacket by a handsome chain. He would reset his pocket watch, place it back in his jacket and hurriedly walk away. One day the clock man stepped out of his store and stopped the man as he reset his pocket watch. 'Do you admire the clock on my wall? I see you stop everyday and look at it before you walk on.' 'Yes,' he said, 'I love your clock, and I know that it is very accurate. I have a very important job. I work at the large factory by the river and I am in charge of blowing the whistle precisely at 8 o'clock. I check the time on your clock every day so that I will know exactly when to blow the whistle.' The clock man gasped. His mouth fell open as he stumbled with his words. 'You are the man who blows the whistle each morning? But, I set my clock each day by your whistle!'"

For this coming New Year, I have made for myself a resolution: Don't get caught up in depending upon relative truth, but diligently seek, as if for the finest treasure, Truth that is unattached, loosened from and non-manipulated by the agendas of this world. 

How Christmas Affected Cultural Economics

Radical teachings passed down through the centuries: 

We owe a great deal to the intervention of the Christmas story into our economic history. To those of us who were not born as Jews, we were introduced to an entirely different collection of thoughts and traditions. Moreover, the revolutionary teachings of Christ changed moral standards and expectations forever. We were given a nobler concept of what it is to be human and were given insights into our own weaknesses and greedy foibles. Christ shed light on concepts not available from any other source. Those concepts were indispensable for the later experiments with the concepts of a free society. 

Christ’s teaching changed the vision of the “good society” proposed by the classical writers of Rome and Greece, and made possible new ideas of culture and economics. Philosophers and writers who adamantly refuse to believe in Christ’s claims to deity or the correctness of the Judeo-Christian position, are none-the-less compelled to admit their indebtedness to the unique teachings of the Christ of the Christmas story. Richard Rorty, whose parents were ardent followers of Trotsky, and he, himself, totally immersed in atheistic Marxist teachings, once wrote that as a progressive philosopher he owed more to Jesus for certain key notions, such as “compassion” and “equality” than to any of the classical writers. In Bertrand Russell’s book, Why I Am Not a Christian, he conceded that although he took Jesus to be no more than a humanistic moral prophet, modern progressivism is indebted to Christ for his ideals.

In Plato’s Republic, citizens were divided in the following way: A few were of gold, a slightly larger body of silver, and the vast majority of lead, (that sounds a lot to me like my frequent flyer program). Those considered in the group of lead all had the souls of slaves and, therefore, were properly enslaved. Only the persons of gold were truly to be treated as individuals of importance and worth. Christ taught that God, who made every single child in his image, gave every child worth and dignity, saying, “what you do to the least of these, my children, you do unto me.” It was revolutionary teaching to identify God with the most humble and the most vulnerable. Christ taught a fundamental equality in the sight of God to all human beings. Whether a person “believes” in Christ or not, it would be intellectual dishonesty to deny that his teachings radically changed concepts regarding culture and economics.

Christ taught that God sees “into” us. God sees us as having equal weight in our “uniqueness,” not because we are the “same,” but because each of us is different. Each is made by God after an original design. This concept of being equal in our uniqueness is quite different from socialist concepts of being equal because of our sameness. Christ’s teaching did not promote a leveling notion. Neither does it require uniformity for equality. On the contrary, it tries to pay heed to and give respect to the unique image of God in each person. God did not make us equal in talent, ability, vocation, bank accounts or position. He did not take away what is unique and submerge it into uniformity, as we have seen promoted in so many economic and political cultures where, traditionally, the impulse has been to pull people down and place them all on the same level, regulated by the state.

Another revolutionary teaching that resulted from the Christmas story in Bethlehem was Christ’s teaching on compassion. Historically, most teachings regarding compassion are limited to one’s own family, nation, culture or kin. Christ’s teaching nurtured and encouraged the impulse to reach out, especially to the most vulnerable, and to the poor, the hungry, the wretched, those in prison, the helpless, hopeless, and the sick. His teachings instruct us to even love our enemies and see and respect the dignity even of those who in the eyes of the world have lost their dignity.

The radical expectation of those teachings pushes to include the concept ofuniversal compassion!

Those are a few of many teachings introduced into our cultures and economic systems because of the Christmas story. We have not only an economic venue as a setting for the Christmas story, but, also, the phenomenon of the Christmas story affecting even present day cultural economics.

Economics and the Christmas Story

In 336 B.C. a 21 year-old was placed on the Greek throne following the assassination of his father, Philip. Alexander of Macedonia, who had been privileged to have Aristotle as his own personal teacher, had been made aware of a world that was fragmented economically into countless little city states, each being crushed by high taxes and isolation. He realized the high cost of fragmentation and fear. In the next dozen years ALEXANDER THE GREAT “conquered” the known world for Greece. He conquered it with such interesting subtlety that, more often than not, the countries in his path simply threw open their gates and welcomed him in. Alexander brought with him security, protection, fairness, and the opportunity for expansion of trade. He encouraged free trade within his new world based on a dependable metallic coinage of gold and silver. The genius of that economic unification rested in the fact that it did not cost his constituents more out of their purses for those additional benefits, but less . . . a whole lot less. 

Where the citizens had been paying as much as 70 to 80 percent in taxes to operate their fragmented city-states, Alexander reduced those tax rates to around 12 to 15 percent. Little wonder that they threw open their city gates and welcomed him with open arms! 

But, alas, with no more worlds to conquer, Alexander the Great died at the age of 33 after a wild drinking party. His five generals took command, and before long the greed and insecurity pushed the populace back toward the mass of fragmented city-states, no longer unified by an environment of low taxes and economic stability. His empire eventually crumbled, but his dream lived on. 

Two hundred seventy-one years later, Julius Caesar, an admirer of Alexander, laid claim to Alexander’s dream, overhauled it, and began to implement the “great experiment,” Pax Romana. The global economy was not nearly as fragmented as it had been prior to Alexander. The Greek philosophy, literature, and ideas of democracy had done much to break down the barriers between the “Greeks” and the “barbarians.” 

Julius Caesar, like Alexander, began building his empire, not through brutal conquest, but, rather, through economic and political liberation. Five years after he had taken over Gaul, Julius Caesar entered Italy, where Rome opened her gates and welcomed him as her new champion and leader. He made the stability of Roman currency so attractive, the mildness of Roman taxation so alluring, the openness of worldwide trade and commerce so desirable, that his empire expanded by the force of demand. He treated the “conquered” nations with such secure leniency that even if they could have revolted, they didn’t! 

The economy began to grow, trade began to flourish, and the Roman Empire was established. Julius Caesar perceived that individual initiative and creativity that was rewarded produced more individual initiative and more creativity . . . thus a more stable and wealthy empire. He also perceived that exorbitant taxation squelched individual initiative and creativity. He, therefore, set out on a plan to broaden the tax base so that he could lower the individual tax rate, i.e., include more people on the tax rolls but lower the amount that each had to pay on his production so that they would be encouraged to produce more, thereby making the empire wealthier and all the people better off. Caesar understood that it was production that was true wealth.

In order to broaden the tax base so that he could lower the tax rate, Julius Caesar needed to take a census of the empire. The census was completed of Italy only. In 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was brutally assassinated. But in those eight years (52-44 B.C.), Julius Caesar had established an economic system that endured the next 500 years and eventually influenced the establishing of even our American economic philosophy. After 16 years of civil war, Octavius, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, desirous of fulfilling his father’s plan, victoriously returned to Rome as Caesar Augustus, Emperor of Rome. 

Does that name sound familiar? It should. Does a census for taxation ring a bell? It should: 

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, into the city of David which is called Bethlehem: (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son, and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2: 1-7 KJV)

Regarding the Christmas story, we are also told: “In the fullness of time . . . God sent his son.” During this season, I am pondering. Just what all could that statement possibly mean? Is it possible that a repeat of some sort of equally significant event of cultural economics is even now developing before our eyes? I certainly am intrigued by economics and the Christmas story. 

Defined by Passion

Our lives are defined by where we direct our passion.

I had been given a prestigious award by Chanel 9, Denver’s NBC affiliate. They had produced a lovely feature segment on the work of Project C.U.R.E. and had aired it on their evening news program. At his home watching the Project C.U.R.E. segment was a gentleman named “Bob.”

Bob was a successful businessman who owned his own painting company. When the Denver Broncos NFL football team made it to their first Super Bowl game, Bob was so excited that he chose to paint his whole residence the blue and orange team colors of the Broncos. The unusual site was featured by a front-page picture in the Denver Post newspaper. From that time on Bob was dubbed with the affectionate nickname, “Bronco Bob.”

A few years later, Bob decided to sell his painting business. An unexpected thing happened. With his business gone and the new owners not needing or wanting his involvement or advice, Bob began to sense his loss and began to question his future and his own personal value. He began to experience depression and those feelings of depression deepened. His wife later told me of how he would some days never even want to get out of bed. Here was a man with giftedness in marketing and abilities enough to run a very successful business.

On the night the television station featured Project C.U.R.E., Bob sat up at attention and said to his wife, “That’s it! That’s what I want to do. I’m going to help Project C.U.R.E.” The next day he called the Project C.U.R.E. office and set a time for an interview and a tour through the facilities. Dave, our Vice President of volunteers, guided him on his tour. About half way through the warehouse tour “Bronco Bob” asked, “Do you have gloves here?”

Dave, thinking that Bob was inquiring about the millions of pairs of surgical and sterile latex gloves that Project C.U.R.E. was sending out all over the world, answered, “Oh, yes, Bob.” Dave went on, “Right over here are the pallets of latex gloves ready to send out and save lots of lives.”

Bob quickly answered back, “No, I’m not talking about latex gloves. Do you have a pair of good leather gloves? I’m ready to start volunteering for Project C.U.R.E. right now! Let’s get started.”

Even after many months of volunteering in our warehouse, the other co-workers would tell me how exciting it was just to work with “Bronco Bob.” He would be walking down through the aisles of the warehouse, arranging the pallets of items to be loaded onto the next huge ocean-going cargo container. He would raise his leather gloves into the air and shout, “Hallelujah, I just love my new life at Project C.U.R.E.!” Later on, Bob and his wife even bought a diesel truck and gave it to Project C.U.R.E. for the collection of medical goods in the Denver area. Bob’s newly directed passion had dramatically changed him. New worth and meaning had now invaded and defined his life.

For as many years as his health allowed, Bob showed up at the warehouse to volunteer. Every day “Bronco Bob’s” passion, enthusiasm and love of life energized everyone else around him. He was a constant reminder to all of us that, “OUR LIVES ARE DEFINED BY WHERE WE DIRECT OUR PASSION.”

What's That in Your Hand?

It’s not what you would do with the millions if riches should be your lot . . .  

But, what you are doing at present with the dollar and quarter you’ve got! 

Maybe there is something in the economic scheme of things that has been overlooked. I am beginning to understand that it’s not so much what you have, but what you do with it that makes all the difference in the world. That is true whether you live in Africa, India, Haiti or the USA. That concept is the great equalizing force of culture and economics. How we respond to the concept will determine the quality and character of our life here as well as hereafter.

Revisit with me for a moment an episode in the life of Moses as God assured him: 

 

I know the King of Egypt isn’t interested in letting you go . . . except under heavy pressure. So, I’ll apply the pressure. If necessary, I’ll destroy Egypt with my miracles.

Then the king will beg you to go! In fact, Moses, when you leave the country you will be loaded down with gifts; jewels, silver, gold, and you will clothe your sons and daughters with the best of Egypt!
Lord, this is too much! Nobody is going to believe me. I can’t communicate this to my people. Remember, I have a terrible speech impediment!

Who makes mouths, Moses? Just do as I tell you and I will help you.
But, Lord . . . I don’t have any resources. 

What do you have in your hand, Moses? 

. . . Just a shepherd’s rod. 

Throw it down on the ground, Moses! 

You mean my shepherd’s rod? 

Yes, Moses. 

But it’s the only thing I have! I make my living with it! 

Throw it down! 

Well, all right, Lord, here goes . . . Oh Lord, let me out of here! My rod has become a hissing snake! 

Pick up the snake, Moses . . . carefully now, by the tail . . . that’s right! 

But, being God, you ought to know, you don’t pick up snakes by the tail. You pick them up behind the eyes! 

Like I said . . . Pick it up by the tail! 

Look! It’s become a rod again right here in my very own hands! 

That’s right, Moses. The only thing I ever wanted from you was what you have . . . because, with that dedicated rod you will do some incredible miracles before Pharaoh. 

You will part the waters of the Red Sea, you will strike the rock and water will come gushing out . . . but, you must be willing to let go of what you have!

In recalling that little episode, I am reminded of an amazing fact: God never demands more from you than what you have. He will never ask you to give something that is out of your jurisdiction to give. Moses had a rod. God only asked for the rod. He didn’t ask Moses to surrender someone else’s rod, only the one over which he had jurisdiction. 

And it is equally true that even though God only requests of you things that are yours to give, you can count on the fact that he also expects you to give back to him at his request what you do have. It is not so much what you have, but what you do with it that makes all the difference in the world.

Insistence on Persistence

“Never give in – never, never, never, never . . .” That was the simple advice given by Sir Winston Churchill in 1941 to the students at Harrow School.

While working together with my son, Dr. Douglas Jackson, at Project C.U.R.E. we have embarked on a familiar conversation at least a hundred times. “We don’t have all the answers to all the problems that confront us. However, we must continue to just keep showing up. We must keep showing up at the ball park every day with our baseball, bat and glove. Sometimes we will get invited to play. Occasionally, we will get up to bat. Maybe, once in a while, we will even hit a home run. But one thing is for certain, we won’t be hitting any home runs, we won’t ever get allowed up to bat, and we will probably never even be invited to play . . . if we don’t keep showing up at the ball park with our baseball, our bat and our glove.”

Early in the colorful history of Project C.U.R.E. an incident took place that shook me to the core. I had worked very hard making appointments with decision makers at hospitals and clinics throughout Denver. I had also gone to manufacturers and wholesalers of medical supplies and pieces of medical equipment. I had told them what I was doing with the new little organization called Project C.U.R.E., and that I wanted them to join me in my efforts to save the lives of thousands of people in developing countries. Many of them believed in me and what I was doing and generously opened their hearts and inventories to me. 

Their generosity, however, forced me to frantically seek additional donated warehouse space in order to store all the medical goods being donated to me. One man in Denver who operated a large medical business invited me to use some of his warehouse space in the back corner of his facility. Everything worked out pretty well and I was grateful for the help.

Then, one morning I discovered that the businessman during the nights had been stealthily slipping over the partition into Project C.U.R.E.’s space and taking for himself some of our collected goods. I then discovered that he had been selling our goods to some of his clients. One sale was in the amount of $5,000. I was shattered! When I confronted the businessman he calmly looked at me and said, “Well, those things were free to you so what are you worrying about? You didn’t lose anything.” I attempted to explain to him that those items had been given to save the lives of needy people who had no other options . . . he wasn’t just stealing some medical goods, he was stealing somebody’s life! That reasoning didn’t make a dent.

My first reactions were, “Why am I going to all this bother to try to collect and distribute these goods to save lives in foreign countries when wealthy charlatans right here in Denver steal the very things that have been donated, and all the while I am not even taking a salary for what I am doing!" Then, I recalled another one of Sir Winston Churchill’s bits of wisdom: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”

Instead of getting angry and discouraged and throwing in the towel, I cheerfully arranged to borrow a very large truck, went back to the man’s warehouse and quickly packed up the remaining inventory and moved it into the corner of another donated facility. How sad it would have been if I would have allowed the man’s actions to have discouraged me from returning to the “ball park” where I would be afforded many more opportunities “at bat.”

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts . . .The slogan, ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
~ Calvin Coolidg

My Goal

There is no secret regarding my goal for the balance of my life: I am determined to spend the best of my life for the rest of my life helping other people be “better off.” I say that with boldness because I have empirically experienced that I have received and am receiving everything I need and desire in my life in direct proportion to my helping other people receive what they need and desire. The minute the formula is reversed and I begin focusing and striving to attain the selfish aspirations that I demand the more I end up losing. 

The more energy and creativity I invest in personal accumulation and attainment the less satisfaction and peace I experience. The more I grab onto the things I want and demand the more they elude me. The more tightly I squeeze the things in my hand that I am determined to keep, whether it is accumulated assets, position or relationships, the more I regrettably squeeze them through my fingers and they escape my grasp. 

However, it seems that the more I relinquish my own selfish pursuits and become aware of the needs and desires of others the more my own life takes on qualities of peace, satisfaction and fulfillment. And the mysterious thing that happens is that I find at the end of the day those things I truly needed and desired in my life have been fully met at the very same time I was focusing on helping others! 

Anna Marie and I spent a lot of time in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales getting Project C.U.R.E. organized and registered as an official “Registered Charity” in the U.K. Somewhere in our travels I encountered the following true story. It serves to remind me of the importance of consciously trying to help everyone around me be “better off.” 

There was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, the man heard a cry for help coming from a nearby peat bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. 

Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what would have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Fleming had saved. 

"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." 

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is this your son?" the nobleman asked. 

"Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "At least let me do this,” offered the nobleman. “Let me provide him with the level of education that my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.” And that he did. 

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from Mary's Hospital Medical School in London. He then went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, “the man who discovered Penicillin.” 

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? That’s right . . . Penicillin. 

The name of the nobleman was . . . Lord Randolph Churchill and his son's name was . . . Sir Winston Churchill. 

You will always have everything you need in life if you will help enough other people achieve what they need to be better off.