So...are you still waiting for just the right person or moment or cause to use the gift you’ve been given to help someone else? Are you finding yourself just a little panicked...okay, maybe not panicked exactly, but a little pressured? You know, compassion isn't everyone's spiritual gift; neither is giving. But we are all accountable to God for how we help those in need.I have a friend who agonizes over every single penny she spends. Seriously. No coke or coffee is purchased, no donation is made, no spur-of-the-minute eating out is even thought of without conscious and seemingly painstaking thought. I've teased her by comparing her to a wild animal caught in a trap--willing to chew off her own leg rather than spend money in a spur-of-the-moment manner. We have had a number of discussions concerning what seems like painful giving for her.
Do you know someone like that? Are you that person?
I want to point out that her...thriftiness...does not mean she is not willing to be generous or that she isn't sincere in her giving. In our reading for the day, Barclay is quoted: "No gift can be in any real sense a gift unless the giver gives with it a bit of himself." That is my friend--every time she gives help to someone, every time she discerns someone’s need--she gives a bit of herself. I admire that in her.
I have another friend who is the polar opposite of her. He is generous to a fault. In fact, he laments that he doesn't give more thought to his "generosity." He freely admits that his stewardship is lacking in purpose and that his generosity is really closer to impulse spending than active compassion.
Do you know someone like that? Are you that person?
I fall somewhere in between those two extremes. You probably do, too.
- Sheree Yasko Hill
