A great man passed away in June 2005. His name was Jim Tweel.

Jim was the owner and operator of Jim’s Steak and Spaghetti House for over 6 decades. The restaurant is an institution in Huntington, West Virginia, still family-owned and as popular as ever to this day. It’s the kind of place that whether you are visiting Huntington or have lived here all your life, you go to Jim’s.

Known for its good food, Jim’s is also famous as a place of hospitality, a gathering where people are friends. One of Jim’s characteristic expressions was giving away silver dollars. If you came to the restaurant on your birthday, anniversary, or for whatever reason he wanted to celebrate, Jim would often greet you with a silver dollar. He carried them in his pocket like calling cards. To receive a silver dollar from Jim was a big deal. You kept it.

When Jim died, Huntington and beyond lost a friend; the church I pastored lost a faithful member. Many people from all walks of life gathered in the sanctuary of the church on June 13^th for Jim’s funeral.

One of Jim’s friends was Muhammad Ali. Not in good health himself, Mr. Ali made the arduous journey to honor Jim’s life. The one known as “The Greatest” came to pay tribute to another man who truly was great in all of our eyes.

You would think that Muhammad Ali’s larger-than-life presence would distract from the day’s focus, to celebrate Jim Tweel’s life. Not so. After waiting inconspicuously in a back room, the great boxer entered the sanctuary quietly and unannounced. He sat reverently on the second row, with some others. He came as a friend to offer his support and respect to Jim’s family.

Jim’s family offered a poignant moment in the service, an experience those who had gathered would long remember. Everyone received a silver dollar. Provided generously by Jim’s family, these coins represented the celebration of Jim’s life, just as he had celebrated so many lives over the years. At the designated time in my sermon, ushers began to pass offering plates, filled with silver dollars. I invited every worshiper (and there were hundreds) to take a silver dollar out of one of the plates.

From my vantage point on the platform, the person whom I could see most clearly was Muhammad Ali. I watched as the plate was passed in front of him. He reached for a silver dollar.

His body exposed the signs of his years of battling Parkinson’s disease. I recognized his familiar difficulty with picking up one of the coins, because my own father suffered from Parkinson’s.

Mr. Ali struggled to grasp a coin, but he was determined to get that coin in his trembling fingers. It was his tribute to the passing of a great man. I watched as he worked for the coin. At one point, I remember thinking that I should go help him. Those sitting around him seemed to be thinking the same thing. But Mr. Ali clearly was going to do this himself.

After a great deal of effort on his part, he succeeded in capturing one of the coins in his hand. He held it to his face, looked at it, as though he were cherishing one of his championship belts. He seemed to smile slightly.

I saw the face of determined perseverance that day. I saw why he was known as “The Greatest.” I saw why he had influenced the lives of so many. I saw what determination looked like, not for his own attention, but for a quiet, respectful, humble honor of another great man.

When I spoke with him after the service, I simply said, “Thank you.” Thank you, partly for making the long trip. Thank you, partly for the difference that he was making in my family’s life through drawing attention to Parkinson’s research.

Mostly, I thanked him because he reminded me what perseverance looked like that day.

“Our response to troubles ought to be determined perseverance. If we persevere without giving up, we find our true, God-given character. Within that character lies our hope” (adapted from Romans 5:3-4).

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