Holiday Giving

While I enjoy the holiday season and the good cheer that everyone wants to spread, sometimes I get frustrated that this is the only time of year that a lot of us consider the less fortunate. During this time of year, charitable contributions are at an annual high and churches are more likely to send their members out into the front lines of the inner city. We use this time of year to make up for the rest of the year when we are less generous with our time and money. But the needy are in need all year, not just during December.

Before I continue, let me clarify that I am no better than anyone else in this regard. During the holiday season, I may jump on the serving bandwagon to go deliver food to the homeless, but the rest of the year you will catch me in my climate controlled house rather than walking the streets of DC or Baltimore with food in my hands. I am just as guilty as the majority of turing a blind eye during the non-Holiday time of year, and I am aware of how hypocritical I am in this case.

Wednesday of last week, I was anxious to leave work and go home for the four-day weekend. I did not want to be held up by the family that was supposed to come to my office on Tuesday to pick up the basket of food that the staff had donated to them because of their great need. The closer the hands of the clock crept to 2:30 on Wednesday, the more antsy I was becoming and the less patient I was feeling with waiting for this homeless family to figure out a way to get here. I called the friend's house where the family has been staying. They have no car, so the mother asked another one of her friends to come to collect the food.

At exactly 2:30, this friend showed up. He was in a wheelchair and he could barely speak. But he smiled and took the food, and painfully thanked us for caring. He then wheeled his way across the street to wait in the cold for the bus to take him and the food basket home.

This man stopped me dead in my tracks, stunned at the selfish life that I lead when there are so many who have so little. I am disgusted at my complaints of not having enough when I have so much. I am disgusted at my skill of looking the other way when someone with nothing asks me to spare some change. I have no right to want more when I am not even a good steward of the resources I do have, selfishly squandering them on myself more often than sharing them with others. I'd love to tell you that I have resolved to change my ways and become more generous year-round, but I hesitate to make a promise that I have failed to keep so many times in the past.

Posted by Kim at November 28, 2005 08:14 AM