Today, I was walking around the gym walking track and was thinking about how different my view of giving and caring happens to be from so many others and society at large. That is what makes this a Dark Chronicles post. It had to occur to me randomly, because it is not something that I would normally think. I was just thinking of some of the "giving" I see by some organizations and government bodies and more that come with strings and conditions.
I mean.. I get it. I understand why people that are investing would want to make sure their investment is sound and that they would get something worthwhile in return for their investments. That is smart financial planning. I just don't see giving as investing. I am not looking to gain or a return. I don't give with a plan by the recipient on how they will be paying me back, because I am not expecting that they will EVER be paying me back. I don't give to get something.. financial or otherwise.
Indeed, it is very similar in fact to what conditions that I will face in my own life, upon giving. There is a reason why I have made a lot of money over the years and do not have it, now.... very often it was given to others in need without the intent for it to come back to me, simply because they needed it. That was all that I needed to know. The result of my life or the chance turns of negative that happens does not ever make me think... I shouldn't have given that to them. I would not withdraw one dollar spent, one effort given, or one minute of compassion shown to anyone in my past. They needed it. That is all that I needed to know.
As I reflected on that, I was thinking that I have often had a very wrong impression of the story of Job, which is the same wrong impression by almost every teacher that I have ever had teach me what the oldest book in the Bible means. In all of those lessons, the story goes like this. Job had a lot of possessions and connections. Then, the devil (at God's command) took away all of his things and people around him. The temptation was to curse God for having taken all of it away and to have less of a soft hard for others and for life. The assumption was that this was a hard thing to do, after losing so much.
And... I bought into that. I believed it would be hard to do, and I prayed that I would never be put to that test. And.. then.. over many years I have faced one trial or another of lost close connections, lost assets, and more. And... I give. I care. And... it's not actually hard to do. Because, my desire to give and to help others has nothing to do with the amount I have or the response I get. It is just because others needed it. It was never about investing for me, and I would challenge anyone that does expect a return to ask if they ever really gave their money or care to another at all, or did they just loan it for a bigger return.
So, that is the question that I will leave you to ponder. I think the question will do more than my words can ever do for yourself or those around you in need.
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