My mom’s friend Joyce was a captain in the Army: the Salvation Army. Before Joyce died she asked me if I would like to have anything from her home as a keepsake. For years when I visited Joyce I would admire an original poster from 1918 promoting the work of the Salvation Army during World War I. Today the framed art sits atop a shelf over my front door: a reminder to all coming in or going out about the good works the Salvation Army provides to all.
Robert Fulghum, famous American humorist most noted for his book All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, reminisced that if his father were ever going to become a Christian, he would join the Salvation Army. It seems The Army practices what they preach. Indeed, Fulghum’s father would join the Salvation Army temporarily every year during Christmas, volunteering to ring a bell, tending the Christmas kettle for donations. After his dad died, Fulghum found out why his father was committed to the Army. It seems that the family home had burned down, leaving the family destitute. But the Salvation Army came to the rescue. Humiliated by his poverty, the father never talked about the event. But now Fulghum understood why his dad rang that bell at Christmas. Because the Army first helped his dad, Robert Fulghum remains committed to ringing a bell beside a kettle outside a store where he lives. You see, wherever there is trouble, you’ll find the Salvation Army there. Operating in almost 100 countries, tens of thousands of committed soldiers fight disease, poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, drug addiction, the abuse of women—simply, if there is a need, the Army is there. Faith, race, color, does not matter, just need. If a person goes to the Army for help they ask only one thing—before they feed you a meal, you need to listen to a sermon. The Bible explains human help may feed the stomach, but Jesus feeds the soul. The Salvation Army is committed to helping others because Jesus first helped us.
Attending a Salvation Army event with her friend Joyce, my mom recounts this story. A crowd had just heard a stirring speech from one of the international leaders of the Army. Driving away from the gathering, my mom looked out the window of her car. There, sitting by a homeless man, seeking to help, was the speaker she had just heard, helping a man he had never met. The Salvation Army takes no prisoners, spills no blood, and fires the only weapon they ever use—the message that because Jesus came to earth to love us, we should go into the earth to love others.
For Moody Radio, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found. To be broadcast on Moody Radio, December, 2011.