So I am on this 29 Days of Giving Challenge, as you know, to honor my friend Lubabat who has completed the challenge many times over.
What did I give today? I gave a man carrying a sign that simply read "I am a father" on side of Route 280 the money I keep in my center console of my truck for occasions just like that. Let me share my thoughts on this. Indulge me, because I have had this debate with many. I live in a heavily populated urban area with a significant number of people who appear to be drug addicts asking for money along the highway. I always give. Period. I have been challenged on many occasions by friends who feel as if I am wasting my money, feeding an addiction, giving to the "unworthy", putting myself at risk, etc. etc. etc. I rebuke that. Giving is about the spirit in which a gift is offered. Quite frankly, I don't care what the receiver does with the gift and who I am to speculate what they will do with it, anyway. I don't give to be thanked. I don't give with strict stipulations on usage. I don't give to feel superior. I don't give so that I can pass judgement. I give so the Universe knows that I am thankful for what I have been given. The funny thing about this is that I wrote my college application essay on this very topic over 20 years ago and here I am thinking about the meaning of giving in my life because of high school friend. I offer to you the words of Khalil Gibran who help shape my thoughts on given back in '87. Enjoy!
You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
What did I receive? I received an incredibly warm welcome to the 29 Days of Giving Challenge website by women who clearly love and admire Lubabat as much as I do.
I received a wonderful reception from my classmates to this invitation. At last count, 15 MBHS classmates were waiting for their approval to join the site.
I received a wonderful words of affirmation and insurance from a beloved that I am "beautiful" just as I am.
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