How was Uncle Albert ever going to get married if…

…he didn’t go to town or to church or to taffy pullings? Back then they didn’t have social media or dating sites.

He sat on his front porch and watched the world go by. He was a pleasant sort of guy, and the world came to him. I can still remember his pleasant smile. Women came to him. My brother Tom had some wild stories about those women.

Here I am beside a sign near Uncle Albert's old home site.

Tom may have been wrong though. It seemed from my point of view Uncle Albert had only one girlfriend, an incredibly rich, well-heeled widow from town. She spent her Saturdays with him. Most of the time they sat on the front porch. Sometimes we’d pass his house and find her car in his front yard parked by his well, but they were nowhere in sight. Mama said they were probably picking pears in the back yard.

Since Uncle Albert didn’t go to town, how did he get his groceries, “supplies” as he called them? This morning in Lectio Divina our pastor, Rachel McConnell Switzer, read Matthew 6: 1-4.

These verses caution us to be careful not to brag or call attention to ourselves when we’re doing acts of kindness or giving gifts to others in need. If we go around bragging about what we do so others will notice us, this attention will be our only reward.

You’ve heard the metaphor of not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing. It’s in this passage. The promise is that if we do good in secret, our Father will reward us openly.

These verses made me think of Uncle Albert, who made a habit of being kind to others.

It also reminded me of going to town. We always drove by Uncle Albert’s house. Daddy would say, “Albert, I’m taking corn to the grist meal. You want me to take your corn for you?”

Uncle Albert would give him a sack of corn, and Daddy would have it ground into cornmeal. Then on the way home he’d stop and deliver it.

Mother would say, “Albert, what do you need from Arrington’s store?”

Albert would give her a list with specific instructions and enough money to pay his bill. We’d deliver his groceries too.

My parents never bragged about these acts of kindness, but their actions taught my brother Buddy and me how to give in secret.

Uncle Albert would have been a great husband. 

Mary Lou Cheatham's most beloved book: The Dream Bucket