“Charity is a virtue
of the heart and not the hand. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not
because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving, lies the expression of my aliveness.”
Erich Fromm
Every
good act is charity. Your smiling in your brother’s face, is charity; an
exhortation of your fellow-man to virtuous deeds, is equal to alms-giving; your
putting a wanderer in the right road, is charity; your giving water to the
thirsty, is charity. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my
wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me
with joy. The greatest gift we can give to others are not material things but
gifts of ourselves. The great gifts are those of love, of inspiration, of
kindness, of encouragement, of forgiveness, of ideas and ideals.
The rabbis taught:
In three things are deeds of love greater than charity.
Charity is done at
the mere sacrifices of money, deeds of love are performed with one’s money and
one’s person.
Give a smile to
everyone you meet
Give happiness and
you will be made happy.
A little girl came
home from a neighbour’s house where her friend had died.
“Why did you go to
that house? questioned her father.
“To comfort her
mother”, replied the child.
“What could you do to comfort her”?
“I climbed into her
lap and cried with her”, answered the child.
How often have I
taken steps to comfort someone in pain or in sorrow?
Sr (Dr) Lilly Thockanattu
No comments:
Post a Comment