Margaret Felice

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Media
  • Calendar
    • Upcoming Performances
    • Upcoming Speaking Events
  • Speaking
  • Publications
  • Performance
    • Biography
    • Repertoire
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Ready to be generous

December 10, 2014 · Filed Under: Culture, faith · Tagged With: Advent, news, peace, politics

Ready BadgeWe are asked throughout Advent to stay ready. For the next few weeks I invite you to reflect with me on the many forms of readiness.

Like many young people, I went through a phase when I thought saying “Rather than give a homeless person money, I buy them something to eat” made me sound very thoughtful and prudent. This was, of course, when I lived in a suburb and didn’t have any regular interactions with homeless people.

There’s nothing wrong with giving someone food, is there? But after years of living in an area where I see panhandlers all the time, I have attempted to develop a habit of giving them what they are actually asking for.

You’re cringing. What if they use that money for drugs or alcohol? What if they are liars, or secretly have stashes of money, or in some other way are not worthy of what I have to share?

moneyI’m going to let you in on a little secret: my giving has little to do with them, and everything to do with the kind of person that I want to be. I want to be someone who doesn’t feel the need to cling to one or two dollars when I know that budget-wise I don’t have to. I want to be someone who doesn’t judge the needs of others and simply takes them at their word. I want to be someone who gives with a fraction of the abundance God shares with us.

Even before I had gainful employment I had a practice of making modest donations to charity, because I knew that if I waited until I had “enough” I would never have enough. 

I don’t tell you this because I want to be admired. I am not a generous person by nature. Like most human beings my inclination is to horde, to be stingy. I am not a nice person. So I come up with a set of rules for myself to be the person I want to be rather than who I am.

*******

When I started hearing details of the torture report, this was, oddly, what I thought of. There will be those who are coldly logical about the whole thing, who will meet my disapproval with their rational calculus of benefits: what if torture saved 10 lives? What if it saved 10,000? What if the person being tortured had done x, y or z heinous acts?

Those are the wrong questions. The question I ask is “what kind of people do we want to be?” Are we a nation that is willing to engage brutality as long as the person being brutalized is part of “them”?

There’s not much that I can do about CIA practices or clandestine interrogation techniques, so I go back to focusing on my own inconsequential heart, trying to shape it, with God’s help, into a free giver of gifts.

What do you do to encourage generosity in your life?

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit

Related

6 Comments

Comments

  1. Laura says

    December 10, 2014 at 8:21 am

    YES.

    Reply
  2. Emilia says

    December 10, 2014 at 10:35 am

    Amen.

    Reply
  3. Karen Seay says

    December 11, 2014 at 10:11 am

    So much truth in so little space. Thank you, Margaret.

    Reply
  4. Don Kolenda says

    December 11, 2014 at 3:58 pm

    Right on, Margaret! My sentiments exactly. I just recently came to be convinced of this so your post is great affirmation. God bless you!

    PS – I’m praying for your health, especially during this hectic season.

    Reply
  5. Dan Pierson says

    December 11, 2014 at 5:39 pm

    Thanks, I need to be reminded I always see folks when I leave Costco. I will now make donation while giving thanks.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Trying to be tough: the cultural poison of bravado | Margaret Felice says:
    May 2, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    […] a panhandler money “in case they spend it on drugs”. I have written before about how my choices to be generous have less to do with the recipient and how I might judge their want, and more to do with the kind of person I want to […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More about Margaret

Subscribe to Blog

Sign up to get my posts delivered to your inbox.
How often would you like to receive updates?

Recent Posts

  • A story I couldn’t tell you
  • What I read, 2022
  • Finding Lady’s Wells
  • A place for grief to go
  • Post-op

Topics I’ve Written About:

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets
  • Home
  • About
  • Biography
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Media
  • Performance
  • Publications
  • Repertoire
  • Speaking

Search

© 2023 Margaret Felice · Headshots by Earl Christie · Website by Little Leaf Design