Not long ago, one of my best friends sent me a timeless story about a brave U. S. Marine who was taking some college courses before he was to again be sent to war. This young hero had already survived almost two dozen missions during his enlistment. Not surprisingly, one of his classes was led by a professor who was a staunch and vocal atheist. However, the Marine mostly kept to himself and remained focused on his studies.
Then, one day the arrogant professor entered the classroom, assumed his position, looked to the ceiling and yelled, “GOD, if you are real, then knock me off this platform… I’ll give you exactly 15 min.” Instantly, the room fell silent. Five, then ten minutes passed and again the professor challenged his creator, “Here I am GOD, I’m still waiting.”
Just as the exhibitionist thought he was about to make his point, the Marine left his seat and punched the professor right in the face, traumatically removing him from the platform. The Marine then quietly returned to his seat. The other students were so stunned by his action you could have heard a pin drop until their teacher finally regained consciousness. Noticeably shaken and bruised, the atheist looked at the Marine and asked, “Why did you do that?” The Marine calmly replied, “GOD is busy right now. So He sent me.”
I loved this story the first time I read it as a young man. Not only because I have great admiration for Marines, but I get excited every time I see someone step up to defend goodness and bring light to the dark.
However, a young man does not need to go to war to be a hero; he can simply be a person that suddenly does not like gumbo when he realizes there is not enough to go around. Then, he learns how to make enough gumbo for everybody.
In his lifetime, Jerry Lewis has raised over $1.5 billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Although that seems like a whole lot of gumbo, it still is not enough to defeat the disease that is robbing so many children of their youth and adults of their very lives.
Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America in 1952 after a answering a plea from a staff member who worked on Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis’ editions of the “Colgate Comedy Hour.” The early programs originated from a variety of locations in New York City during 1954 as local telethons aired exclusively on WABD.
After Jerry had performed several 4 hour shows in New York to benefit MDA, the idea of a “Big National Telethon” came about when the association approached Lewis and he agreed to host the annual event. Organizers of the telethon chose Labor Day weekend because it was the only time available to hold such a lengthy program.
Few thought the Labor Day broadcast would succeed, as Americans were expected to be away from their TV’s on holiday weekends. New York City officials were skeptical that it would pay for itself and they were originally reluctant to grant MDA a fund-raising permit.
Nevertheless, the 1966 “Jerry Lewis Telethon” ran 19 hours, was broadcast only by WNEW station in New York City and turned out to be the first televised fund-raising event of its kind. Airing live from the Americana Hotel in New York , a talk show set was used with a desk for Jerry, a stage for the 19 piece jazz band, phone banks and a toatboard. In the end, Jerry had to climb a ladder to paint a 1 on the board that finally read $1,002,114.
The MDA Telethon went coast-to-coast in 1970. It was the First Telethon to be aired Coast to Coast and $5,093,385 more than doubled the amount raised the previous year. Last year, over $60,000,000 was raised for those we have come to know as “Jerry’s Kids.”
This year, I and several other community leaders will be raising money for this vital cause. We will be “Locked Up for Good” on Wednesday September 29, at NASCAR Speed Park in Sevierville. We are each charged with raising $3,200 to send 4 of Jerry’s Kids to camp. Please help us accomplish this important goal. With all that is going on in the world, God gets busy and sometimes needs a little extra help from us on the ground.
