“In our community we organize and collect food and money for poor families in the neighbourhood. We also give something during Advent and Lent. Every now and then we also extend help to the victims of natural calamities. Personally, I am tired and embarrassed to ask for more help. Shouldn’t the government try to solve these social problems? Can you help me on this? - Carla R.A typical scenario: one turns on the TV and switches channels-from an earthquake disaster and its victims, then to another channel with endless chatter about favourite stars and beauty queens.
Then we hurriedly leave the house, cross paths with a neighbour, the colleague in the office cubicle next to ours, the beggar knocking at our car window, or get stuck in traffic. With all our personal and family problems, how can we still think and bother about other people’s problems? It’s true: institutions do exist, with their economic resources, organizational power, legislative and social contacts. We also have to remind them once in a while to be sensitive to situations of poverty and fragility from the perspective of the common good.
For many, doing this kind of work, day in and day out, tends to be… yes, WORK or drudgery.
Yet, there is a sublime feeling within us that invites us to be generous and practice the “culture of giving.” We know of many youth who chose not to delegate to any government or non-government institution this great opportunity they have to share.To uphold and cultivate these values is a giant leap forward: realizing the importance of a “sober’” lifestyle measured by the needs of those who have less; being free from the shackles of consumerism and materialism; educating children about the fundamental values of social life, teaching them how to walk the talk, so to speak; being able to give of our own, no matter how seemingly insignificant; knowing how to offer a collective “giving” with “open arms” to the needs of others without expecting anything in return, and doing this together as one family or community, or an organization.
We should be able to realize that the opportunity to share is much better than mere “giving,” where sharing means that a relationship of equals is established, as opposed to a relationship of superior to subordinate which is what happens with dole-outs, when one may experience temporary elation at being able to “give” to the less fortunate. However, this doesn’t elevate the plight of those in need. Instead, it robs them of their dignity.
“Sharing” those material goods God has entrusted to us is like siblings sharing a room, a cabinet, or a desk… with reciprocity becoming a natural consequence. The material value of what is shared is not as important as that gesture of sharing, a communion between equals. It encourages both recipients to spontaneously give and take, with equal freedom.
Who knows? Maybe in the future, we might find ourselves on the receiving end. And the cycle will have come full circle. Yet the cycle would not be complete if reciprocity were not achieved.
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