Negotiating Chocolate

Picture a loading dock near Kiev, Russia in the late 19th century. A young woman is holding a baby while two young girls are tugging tightly at her skirt. The woman is anxiously waiting for a boat that will take her to America away from her village that has been under attack. Violent men have been rioting her neighborhood and murdering people because of their race.  She happens to be a member of this race.  As she clutches the baby tighter, her heart races faster. The boat is late. A soldier comes up from behind, kicking her and making her fall to her knees with the baby. Years later this woman would have three more sons born in Cleveland, Ohio where she had joined her husband after the long boat ride. The youngest of these sons was the apple of her eye, and she named him Alfred.  Alfred had a special skill that he learned as a child: how to negotiate with a piece of chocolate. There is a little slice of  history related to one such chocolate negotiation that gave the Allies an advantage in World War II.  But this is just one corner of a brilliant and colorful tapestry known as the life of Alfred.


I’ve come to know that it is impossible for us who know the living Messiah to tell someone’s story without developing a sense of awe for our Creator, who foreknew every detail of every life. The more we know God, the more we see that He is very present with us. When King David pondered the realization that God had enclosed him behind and before and laid His hand on him, his response was, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” Psalm 139:4,6