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October 04, 2004
Some things are more important
We all have priorities in our lives; we all choose what is important to us. In the process we call life, we make choices based on what we value. Jesus said, “where your treasure is, that is where your heart is.” Which is really the same in reverse, “Where your heart is, that is where your treasure is.” What we value the most will ultimately dictate our actions and be our reward.
Today was the kickoff for our company’s annual Charitable Giving campaign. It’s a program that allows for payroll deductions for donations to charities of our choice (1000’s of charities are listed to choose from.) Representatives from several charitable organizations were on hand for a couple of hours to answer questions. I learned a lot from talking with them and discovered some new charities I had never heard of.
There are so many good charities it’s really hard to decide where my limited resources will go. But for me to NOT give is not an option. Even if it’s a small amount, deducted each payday, it can make a huge difference for the people that need it. When added with everyone else’s ‘small incremental donations’ it becomes a great resource for those organizations working in the community.
I’m going to highlight a few interesting programs and then share some words from a young man in the 10th grade that sums up an idea of giving that ultimately means a heart that values human life and dictates life-saving action. For this High School Sophomore, NOT giving was never an option.
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless. http://www.oyh.org
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless is a funding agency to over 100 smaller Agencies, like the Central Minnesota Task Force on Battered Women / Anna Marie’s Shelter, The Bridge for Runaway Youth, Inc, Hunger Solutions Minnesota and the Violence Intervention Project. In their information, they put giving into terms we can all understand and afford. Once we understand that we can make a difference no matter what our economic situation, NOT giving is not an option. “$3.00 per pay period will provide two weeks’ worth of food for a family of four using food shelf services.” “$5.00 per pay period will provide transportation expenses for one year for a housing shelter.” And $10.00 per pay period will help purchase school supplies, back packs, and calculators for 20 homeless youth.”
The Community Solutions Fund, http://www.solutionsfund.org, has a nice quote on their website:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
One of the 47 member Organizations of the Community Solutions Fund, New Americans Community Services (NACS), http://www.newamericans.us “are making a stronger economy for us all by helping people to find and keep jobs. Their employment services help people from varied cultures navigate the American job market through customized employment skills, job search and job retention trainings.”
In a time when many people’s hardened hearts have come up with solutions to our country’s economic problems like ‘shut down the borders and send the immigrants back,’ this organization is choosing to value and make a difference in people’s lives.
The source of inspiration for what I am writing today is a book published by the COMPAS Writers & Artists-in-the-Schools Program. http://www.compas.org
Today at our company’s annual Charitable Giving Campaign kickoff, I entered my name in a drawing for a few small tokens which some of the charities had provided. I won something!!! It’s a wonderful book titled, The Ragged Heart. It’s an anthology edited by Norita Dittberner-Jax, 1989. ISBN 0-927663-14-7. I opened the book to pages and pages of surprising depth and beauty from the mouths and hearts of our society’s youth. If you can find this book it’s worth reading.
The Frozen Pond
By Eric Hernandez: Grade 10, Anoka Senior High School, Anoka, Minnesota.
“Across the frozen pond
in late winter,
in the woods
we had been building a tree fort and
spring was in the air.
Dusk was coming.
We plummeted down the pole and started towards home.
Walking on the ice
we came to a crater.
The icy water down in the center of it
mirrored our reflections.
He was leaning over it
slipped and slided into it.
We laughed at his clumsiness.
Then, horrified, we watched him
slide back into the deadly water
after several times of trying to climb the slick embankment.
Panic crossed our faces.
We couldn’t reach him.
He was desperate and pale now.
An idea came to me.
My heart pounding, I raced back to the fort
ripped the pole out of the ground,
and charged back.
He was shivering.
He grabbed the pole which
was his lifeline.
We pulled him to safety
and rushed him home.
It was a cold walk home that night,
but I had a light burning in my heart.”
In our society we too often have the idea that what we get is what we deserve. We build elaborate tree houses and prize and possess them. We boldy claim that anyone who falls through the cracks deserves what they get. We have been known to ridicule them for their misfortune, stupidity and clumsiness. We have laughed at them for not being as smart, inventive, resourceful, cautious, industrious or as sane as us. It’s a philosophy of ‘Everybody for themselves.’ Yet in our own sanity and superiority we have let them slide beneath the deadly water after several times of trying to climb the slick embankment. It’s indeed a cold walk home without a light burning in our hearts.
Posted by carl1236 at October 4, 2004 04:24 PM | Love your Neighbor