Giving From A Distance

So, somewhere along the line, being the Christmas nut that I am, I picked up a little book called "A Christmas Miscellany" that contains a ... miscellany of short stories, poems, recipes and news clippings about Christmas originating from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It's a neat book that my wife and I have enjoyed reading from a little each night, mostly entries painting vivid pictures of an old fashioned Christmas. One entry in particular really caught my attention last night when I read the following portion from it:

"In these days the squalid regions of our great cities are being explored and improved by various methods of systematic beneficence. 'Christian Settlements' are established; bureaus of charity are formed and associations for the relief of the poor are organized. A noble work; but, after all, the most effective 'bureau' is one that, in a waterproof and a stout pair of shoes, sallies off on a wintry night to some abode of poverty with not only supplies for suffering bodies but kind words of sympathy for lonesome hearts. A DOLLAR FROM A WARM HAND WITH A WARM WORD IS WORTH TWO DOLLARS SENT BY MAIL OR BY A MESSENGER BOY. The secret of power in doing good is personal contact. Our incarnate 'Elder Brother' [Jesus Christ] went in person to the sick chamber. HE anointed with His own hand the eyes of the blind man and He touched loathsome leper into health. The portentous chasm between wealth and poverty must be bridged by a span of personal kindness...."

That passage nearly caused me to drop my book. Convicted by my own inadequacies of beholding to the truth written in that passage, I wondered aloud to my wife how many people in society (myself included) write a check to a charity, pat ourselves on our back for being charitable, then move on thinking we are good?

Of course, there's nothing wrong with cutting a check and giving from a distance. Indeed, that IS good. But, as I once heard someone speak on the difference between good, better, and best, I can't help but to think that (in Christian terms) writing a check and calling it good is the rough equivalent to the Law of Moses, whereas the "warm hand with a warm word" is the higher law taught by the Savior.

This lesson taken from an author's pen in 1913 will stick with me for some time, and I'm hopeful that I will not only have future opportunities to give, but to give in person with a warm word or two to offer.

All the best, and Merry Christmas!