We are currently in one of our most pressing times globally, financially, and ecologically. No one is certain what is ahead and there is a tremendous amount of fear and destruction raging throughout our world. People are hurting. And people are hurting one another.
The need for compassion and charity is now.
Charity instills hope, help, and healing. It is a gift given to a needy or deserving cause. It allows us to bless in the midst of war, suffering, and starvation. It reminds us that we have the power to make significant change even in the heart of battle or turmoil. We can bring warmth, kindness, safety, or even the preservation of life itself.
This gift of life reminds us that we all struggle and that we all have fundamental needs. And when crisis comes, we will be desperate or dependent upon others too. We must remember this. It is terrifying to be in severe need. It is humbling and horrifying to have no idea how you will survive.
And this is where charity floods in like a lifeboat or with surgery for the body and soul. It can be as simple as a hug or a handshake, or as necessary as bread and water. Everything is needed. Nothing is too big and nothing is too small. Nothing is expected or demanded. And in our world where we so frequently feel insignificant, that we don’t matter, charity devours this lie. You can save a life.
We are starving to matter or leave an impact. That is the frenzy of social media. Focusing upon others brings this in the quickest, easiest, and most profoundly transforming way. It challenges us to look broader, outside of ourselves and acknowledge who has needs? This desire and vision bring out the very best in us. It brings out our love, compassion, and our humanity. It allows us to save. And in saving another, sometimes we save ourselves.
When someone becomes suicidal or is struggling with severe depression, there are two poignant suggestions to reinforce a desire to live: purchase a pet to care for, or donate time, resources, and volunteer. Charity requires us to be important by making others more important. It magnifies this. Because that’s what charity is. It needs us to give. And giving becomes power. Which makes everyone valuable, simply because we are here. And in being here, we can choose to be the feet and hands of service, compassion, and love which instills hope in life, in another, and in humanity.
There is no pain inflicted in charity, no stealing or taking away. All is offered and given freely. It is this that brings us back to utopia. What I have is yours. Charity is the act of saving the world.
(First published UpJournal.com)
