RIGHT #03: the Right to GIVE anyway

“The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most drudge along paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return.” ~ Gore Vidal

It has been often said that the poor keep getting poorer and the rich keep getting richer. And this isn’t merely some catchy platitude that applies only to 3rd World dictatorships — this has been the the simple, raw Truth in the wealthier countries of the world for quite some time as well. It was true back in the reign of Reagan & Bush, and it is just as true today in the reign of Obama.

And quite a few folks have been striving for quite a few years to correct this grave injustice, mostly to no avail. Social Security legislation … Medicare & Medicaid … Minimum Wage laws — all designed to keep the heads of the poor barely above water as the drowning tides of inequity & unfairness steadily rise.

In America at least, most folks work hard all month for too little pay, only to pay taxes to a government that spends that hard-earned money on things that are either disgustingly unethical (like Obama’s drone war & the NSA’s domestic spying) or that are literally deadly (like the federal subsidies given to Monsanto & others for the production & distribution of GMO’s).

All things considered, it is safe to offer the gross understatement that things don’t look so great. And, at least as far as the financial security of the vast majority of the world’s citizenry goes, it is just as safe to say that our future looks even grimmer still.

AND YET, there is one thing that our governments cannot ever take away from us, and this no matter how poor we already are or how much poorer we become — our Right to GIVE anyway.

*We might only have a few dollars left in our accounts or our wallets, and yet we can GIVE those few cents gladly to those sitting in the streets.

*We might be hungry, and yet we can still GIVE our last few scraps to another who pines for sustenance.

*We might have lost our homes, and yet we can still GIVE shelter to others — with a hug … with a smile … even with an umbrella.

Please remember that it is not for us to give what is needed or even what is desired.  Rather, it is simply for us to GIVE whatever we have to give.  It is not for us to “save the world” or “cure poverty” or do anything majestic or infamous. It is enough for us to reach out each day and do whatever we can to give a small slice of solace to at least one other being.

And THIS is the Wealth that can never be taken from us — to not only give when we have enough, but to GIVE when we do not.

Indeed, to lend to another in our times of comfort is not the most difficult of deeds, and therefore does very little good regardless of the amount given. On the other Heart, to GIVE in our times of lack is profound.

To share with others during our own times of need is the Giving that brings Great Change — it is the Giving that rattles the timbers of our communities — it is the Giving that shakes the foundations of our entire Universe.

When the rich man tosses a fifty dollar bill contemptuously (or even kindly) into my basket, I am mildly grateful to be sure, and yet when the poor widow stoops to touch my cheek and lightly touches me with her smile while giving me her last two pennies, then my whole life is changed.

In such moments, I am reminded that life is Good despite its shades of poverty & injustice — and I am reminded that I can be thankful for it anyway …

I am reminded, even though I may not be wealthy or powerful, that life is short and that I am here to serve others anyway …

And I am reminded, even though I sometimes have little and yearn for so much more, that my days are filled with an Abundance that far exceeds the hollow “opulence” of money & things — that there are always ways I can be generous; that even though I may be poor & abused, I can give anyway.

It is in these moments of selfless, loving sacrifice — in these moments when we cease to consider or analyze or wonder about whether our gift is “enough” or whether the object of our giving is “deserving” — in those moments when we stop thinking about giving and simply reach out to GIVE, that we are reminded that it is LOVE that is the currency of kings …

… and we are reminded that we are all forever Wealthy.

Amen.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly Give.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

“Give what you have. To someone, it will be far greater than you dare to think.” ~ inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“For it is in Giving that we Receive … It is in times of joyful self-sacrifice that the two become One.” ~ inspired by St. Francis of Assisi

Filed under: The Inalienable Eleven by Scaughdt