Spread Life 2011

It would have been David’s 24^th birthday. Last year, those of us who mourn his loss wanted to do something on his birthday that captured something of his essence. That is when my wife came up with the idea of doing creative acts of kindness in his memory on his day. Some of his friends added elements to the day that made it particularly meaningful , such as the colour orange ( his color) and wearing flip flops. It embodied things that we knew represented him. We landed on calling the day of creative acts of kindness “Spread Life” which we drew from his final words on Facebook “ I want to run, jump and spread life in this world…”.

Last year, for Spread Life,  my family and and some friends contributed to a clothing giveaway at Lighthouse Church in Wasaga Beach. Other members of our extended family planted orange tulips in all sorts of meaningful places and many other people did a variety of kind acts in memory of Dave and in honour of Jesus.

Setting up...

 This year, we converged on HiWay Pentecostal Church, in Barrie,  to make coffee that we gave away on the waterfront. It was a spectacular day.

Really, no strings attached...?

Of course people wondered why we were giving away coffee and some shied away from our table. However, Jordan did such a great job of inviting people in, and all of the kids took part in explaining the reason for what we were doing with the cards created for the event. There were a number of special, unforgettable moments.

Talking about Spread Life...

In fact, one young woman was standoffish and asking us where the coffee came from and what brand it was. “I’m sorry to be a snob, but I am picky about my coffee”. Jordan just handed her the card and said, That’s ok, we are just celebrating the birthday of our brother, who died. He had a big heart, he loved God and he loved people and this is just the kind of thing he loved to do”. When she looked at the card and heard Jordan’s gentle earnestness, she just melted...... Her eyes filled up with tears and she apologized. As she walked away, holding the Spread Life card and clearly touched, she told Jordan, “You have already made my entire day”.

It was true for others as well. I could tell that once they grasped what this was all about , they were deeply moved. They knew that it was about more than the coffee. It was a sweet, gentle time and before we knew it we were out of condiments, the sky was clouding over, and it was time to go. What we did was small and insignificant, but it was in fact Something. And it was done with prayer and with love. And it was more than worth doing….

For the background see  www.davidpowell.me .