MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Charity has, over the past couple of decades, become 'big business'. There has been much news of how funds we give are often much less by the time they get to target... and sometimes they don't even reach there as we might hope. Then there are the disturbing reports in some quarters of highly inappropriate behaviours. 

This is not new. The original source of charity was The Church (generic) and although rarely reported, we can be sure that those who were vulnerable were also open to manipulation in various forms.

Charity, in the end, is not about how much one gives, but how one gives it. We cannot provide true charity if our minds are warped in any direction other than that of giving unconditionally and with Love as our main motivation. True charity has nothing but compassion and an understanding that, but for circumstances, the situation could be reversed. This is what the sense of Oneness provides. Intuition, insight and immediacy arise. Reaching out with a warm and tender touch, non-threatening, comforting, is as much charity as the provision of goods or funds. 

We must have clear minds and hearts to provide genuine charity. The best charity is that which is personal. Not big nor business. This doesn't mean it cannot be wide-spread. But there should be a thread of the personal within it. This is why the Women For Women organisation I mentioned last week holds great appeal for me. 

Where I cannot be the immediate benefactor, directly charitable (such as buying a burger and drink for a beggar = which has been done = ), then I seek out those charities where there can be a truly personal aspect to it. 

What is more, even when my own circumstances have been at times straitened, Love and Charity have never gone amiss. The heart and mind that are open cannot fail to connect - and almost without fail, abundance will be the reward.