As my friends have pointed out, I have not posted a new blog for a while. As they say, I can offer a reason, if not an excuse. I co-chaired a major fund raising effort for a charitable institution. During my employment years, I always avoided this kind of volunteer activity, as I had neither the time nor the energy. At that stage of my life, I preferred to write a personal check to a charity rather than ask friends, colleagues or family for any money, even if the cause was a worthy one.
Retirement ended these excuses. In retirement I have embraced the notion that I’d like to try things outside of my comfort zone. What is anyone going to do, fire me? Not likely, and so what if they did. And after years of competitive corporate life, my mindset in this project was that I wanted to excel at raising money and do better than past campaigns for this organization. The short answer is I succeeded, but it was not easy.
Attitudes towards Charity
The Bible is clear that there is an obligation to tithe. Numbers 18:21; Deuteronomy 14:29. Mormon and Orthodox Jewish believers take upon themselves the obligation to tithe. But my guess is that this obligation is followed more in the breach.
We live in a society of self-indulgence and immediate gratification. During the boom period of the 1990’s onward, our peers built McMansions and bought luxury cars in record numbers. Any societal self-governor of modesty, self-restraint, and proportionality disappeared. The ethic became, I want it, I want it now and I deserve it, so why wait?
While pampering ourselves, how much did we think about charity? Charity is a mindset. A clergyman explained the sin of Joseph’s brothers who cast him into a pit. The brothers probably had cause to be angry at Joseph as he flaunted his new coat, told of self-aggrandizing dreams, and denigrated his brothers and parents. Nevertheless, after the brothers cast Joseph into the pit, they sat down to a feast. They ignored Joseph’s cries and continued to enjoy their meal.
Ignoring the Cries
It is easier to avert our eyes from the need to give charity than to focus squarely on the need to give. Before we began this charity campaign, I spoke to a professional fundraiser. He said I would soon learn that there are a thousand reasons not to give charity: “I have kids in college…I am supporting my mother-in-law in a nursing home…I don’t like how the charity allocates funds” and so on.
But the next time we take an expensive vacation, buy Stub Hub tickets at exorbitant prices to a “must see” concert or sporting event, go out to a lavish dinner or upgrade a 3-year old car to an even more expensive model, maybe we should think about whether or not we could do with less.
During the campaign, many people who did not have a lot of money made small contributions. I was more heartened by these small gifts than larger contributions from the rich. I knew that the rich person was making little or no sacrifice while the poor person’s smaller contribution was financially significant. Maybe the old adage is true: “give until it hurts.”
Every day I go out of my way to personally contribute a dollar or some change to a poor person. It obviously helps that poor person, but it also helps me to remember that I have had a blessed life: here but for the grace of the Almighty go I. So when each of us sits down to our Thanksgiving feasts, maybe we can stop for a moment and listen to the cries of whatever brother Joseph we encounter in our own lives.
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