anxiety · provision
His Last Coin, and the Morning After
Hudson Taylor — A young man down to his last coin, who gave it away — and learned something he never forgot.
Picture a young man with one coin left to his name. Hudson Taylor, still in England and far from wealthy, was called to a cramped room where a mother lay dying and her children had nothing to eat. He had a single small coin in his pocket — all he had — and he felt the pull to keep it and the pull to give it, and after a hard inward fight he handed over everything he had and walked home with empty pockets. The next morning, in the post, came an anonymous gift worth several times what he'd given away. He said, half-smiling, that it was a remarkable return on a twelve-hour investment. He never claimed giving was a trick to get more. He learned something quieter: that a hand opened toward someone in need is not a hand God forgets.
When money is tight, fear clamps your fist shut — you cannot imagine letting go of anything. Taylor knew that grip; he fought it with his last coin in his hand. His story doesn't promise a payout. It gently loosens the fingers, and says you may be more provided-for than fear lets you believe.
Give, and it will be given to you — pressed down, running over.
A gentle step: If fear has your fist shut, try opening it one inch: do one small, quiet act of generosity this week — not to get anything back, just to practice trusting that you'll still be okay.
verified — Hudson Taylor, 'A Retrospect', ch. III; his own account of giving his last half-crown and receiving an anonymous gift the next morning ('400 per cent for twelve hours' investment'). Public domain.