I was reading one of my favorite blogs (favorite as in, wow, she writes so well) and she hit on a theme that I've been thinking about a lot lately. Charity.
It seems that Madame Delena has hit a snag in her idea to collect coats for the needy. The snag was simply the words of someone telling her she might have a hard time getting people to cooperate. While that may be true I told her she should go along with it. Different people have different ideas of charity. Some give gobs (or a little) of their money. Some volunteer non-stop. Some believe their vocation unto itself is charity.
I remember somewhere in the depths of my addled brain a story about a priest who would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches daily for the hungry. Apparently this was a lot of work and he did not receive much help. He received a substantial check from a man who thought his generousity would be appreciated by the priest. The priest returned the check stating, "Make your own sandwiches." Or something like that...
There's also the story about the boy standing on a starfish-laden beach, throwing the starfish one by one into the sea to save them from their certain death. A man comes upon the boy and says, "You cannot possibly save all of these starfish. There are thousands of them! It doesn't matter!" "It matters to that one," the boy replies as he throws another into the waves.
I prefer the second story to the first. Perhaps I don't like the way the priest is behaving. Perhaps I want the rich man to get into the trenches. Perhaps I *am* that rich man (minus the riches). I would think any well-run charitable organization or a one-person-coat-collecting-charity can attest that money is important, but the actions speak louder...
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