“Charity sees the need, not the cause.” (German Proverb) – as seen recently on the Jack’s Winning Words blog. Jack went on to add, “Compassion for the poor, whatever the reason for poorness, is a value worth teaching.”
Americans are, for the most part, compassionate and giving people who are quick to give when they see a need. Americans also tend to let the temporary good feeling that they get about that giving be enough and then move on with life. In our healthcare world, it seems that we are told (and believe) that there is a pill that we can take to make things all better, no matter what the problem. In our day-to-day lives the “pill” that we take to make the
needs that we encounter better is throwing that dollar in the red kettle or handing it to the homeless man on the street. We take our giving pill and get on with life.
Certainly, there is nothing wrong with showing our compassion through our spontaneous giving; however, that same homeless man will be back at the same spot tomorrow, again begging for help, unless we do something different and focus some of our energy on the causes for his condition. Is it an addiction to drugs or alcohol? Is it a lack of education or job training? Does he have an 
untreated mental health issue? Is he/she unable to work because they have no way to get to work? Is she begging for food and clothing for her family because she can’t afford child care and can’t work?
In addition to the knee-jerk reaction of compassionate giving, we need to be asking questions. What are the causes? What can we do about those causes? If we do nothing about the causes, how can we expect things to change?
If you dig into the causes, you might be surprised to find that there are many grass-roots organizations already in existence to provide things like educational and tutoring services, job skills training, transportation services, addiction counseling and help, mental health counselling and help and much more. You will probably also find that all of those organizations are run on a shoestring and could use your help, both financially and your volunteer time. In my area there are several groups that do more than just giving someone a buck or two. Community Sharing in Highland, MI, runs a food bank both for people and for their pets; but, that’s just a part of what they do. They also run counseling programs designed to help break the cycle of poverty and to help people get back on their feet and back into the mainstream of society. The Salvation Army is in most communities and runs job training programs to help people re-skill themselves and get into the job force. There are also many local transportation options being offered to help get people to work or to doctors’ appointments.
If you look for these groups and services you will find them and you will find that they 
always need help – volunteers or paid positions to actually do the work of the programs that they run. You can sign up and probably work as much and as hard as you wish helping them fight the causes of poverty, homelessness and hopelessness in your community. Will you solve the world’s problems by doing that? No, but you will make a difference that you can see in the lives that you touch. You might be there to share in his joy when he collects his first paycheck from his new job. Maybe you’ll be able to help him carry in some furniture for his new home. Those are feelings will be a whole lot more meaningful for him and for you than the temporary feeling of good that you get as you drop your dollar in his hat and hurry on down the street.
In most communities there are hundreds of volunteer opportunities for those who wish to give more than just money. One way to find out what the needs for volunteers are in your community is to go to VolunteerMatch.org and check on your community. When I tries it to see what might be available around my area 558 volunteer opportunities came up. Try it for your community and see what needs are right around you that you may be able to help with.
So, the next time you reach for your wallet to throw a buck into a beggar’s hat, stop long enough to consider what he/she really needs to get back on their feet and then find a way to volunteer to help with that cause. There is an old proverb that is really an appropriate analogy – “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Volunteer to become a teacher of men and help make lifetimes better.
Posted by Norm Werner 
because Ben Franklin made popular the idea of making comparisons of alternatives using lists like their attributes or the good and bad of a decision for either alternative. I often use a Franklin Chart in me real estate business to show sellers the pluses and minuses that I see for their houses, as a method of justifying my assessment of its market value.
On the left side of the list (the things that we can’t control) are some obvious entries – the weather, political elections, the stock market, a loved one’s death, things that have already happened, and someone else’s actions. One the right side of the chart (the things we do control), you should find this entry at or near the top of the list – how you react to things that happen. That is really one thing that you have total control over.
seeking solutions to things on that list that cannot be solved leads only to frustration, anger and depression. Letting go of those fixations about knowing or solving life’s mysteries frees you to get on with your life; it allows you to focus upon the things that you can control – how you deal with things in life. If you get the reaction part right, that will also allow you to spend more time on the pro-active parts of life – doing good with your life, instead of just reacting to bad.
struggling to understand some bad things that have happened in your life (maybe the breakup of a relationship or marriage or even a death in the family). Perhaps you have been stubbornly beating your head against the frustrating wall of denial or disbelief in search for answers or solutions. Maybe it’s time to right those things down. Put them all on the left hand side of your chart. Now, look over to the right hand side of the chart and focus upon the enties there.
or to change what has happened is fighting a losing battle against God’s will. Accepting that those events were God’s will, that they have happened and that they cannot be changed is a key step towards the right side of the chart. Once there you can ask for God’s help with how you react to them.
forgive that person? Were you even able to relate to their decision?
amount of analytical effort, no matter how “scientific” is it touted to be, will really allow you to predict the future and certainly nothing that you do while sitting and worrying about it will change the future. The only thing that you can do to have an impact on your future is take actions today that will change your personal impact on the world.
priest and the Levite did the man whom the Samaritan helped? You have choices all day long, every day, between doing right or wrong, good or evil, something or nothing, helping or ignoring. All of those choices are much more important than spending time worrying about the future.
God that is occurring all round you. Both of those efforts are foolhardy and egotistical acts of defiance against the will of God. Perhaps, instead of worrying about other things; you should be praying, “God, help me to be all that you want me to be today.” You’ll end up being a happier and better person and the world around you will take care of itself and seem to be a better place, too.
what this will mean to them. Many went to bed not knowing the outcome; some did not go to bed at all. And then the sun came up.
themselves for their common good and the good of the world. We print the foundation of our beliefs as a people on our money – In God we Trust.
is that their waffling actually satisfies no one and can make things worse. They have a tendency to say to both sides in any disagreement whatever it is that they think they want to hear. Both sides temporarily think they have the support of that person for their point of view, until there is a showdown and they realize that the waffler doesn’t really support either side. Then everyone is unhappy.
They always have doubts and are torn by FUD – fear, uncertainty and doubt. Their real problem for most of these people is a lack of self-confidence. Since they don’t feel good about themselves, they can’t get comfortable with any of the decisions that they have to make. It is just easier for them to go along with whatever way the wind in blowing at the time and to agree with the position of whomever is standing in front of them.
are looking at both sides of the argument and analyzing the arguments before making a decision. The problem is that they never get to the decision point. They spend all of their time analyzing and looking at both sides. There is certainly nothing wrong with being open minded enough to see both sides of an issue. After all the opposite is to become bull-headed and
rigidly set in your beliefs, no matter how wrong they have proven to be.
Today is Election Day in America and we all have to stop waffling and make a decision in the voting booth. About half of the country will not be happy at the end of the day. I can’t do anything about that. I have my little Franklin Chart done and have made my decision. Hopefully, tomorrow we can all at least be happy that this “Silly Season” is over. I can’t wait for ads about laxatives and erectile dysfunction to once again take over the diner time TV ads. I think we can agree on that.
or facts, but rather have to do with highly personal and emotional feelings and memories that we keep tucked away in our hearts. Perhaps they are the things that we place in God’s hands, as Luther suggested.
up in our hearts again. Maybe that’s God saying to us, “Do you remember when we did this together?”
love you. I wish I had said good bye. I wish I had spent more time with him/her. At those moments; when it’s too late, you realize that you let other; less important things in your life get in the way of what is the most important thing in life – interpersonal relationships.
Somewhere in the deepest recesses of our minds most of us have warm, fond memories of being in our mothers arms as a child. Many of us have strong memories of the passion and love that we shared with a significant other. Some have vivid memories of the birth of children and watching them grow up. Yet those memories got somehow pushed back in our minds due to the seeming urgency of or day to day lives. We always thought that there would be more time with mom or dad; one more Thanksgiving or Christmas; one more birthday party; one more opportunity to say I love you. I wish I had…
one more ball game, one more dance recital, and one more graduation to go to; but, then they were grown and gone. I wish I had…
companionship and fervor to comfort. Time seemed to speed up, but you always thought there would be more; more time to say I love you and more time to prove it. I wish I had…
important than getting into work early. By the end of the day, those opportunities may be gone forever. Of all of the thoughts that you could have today; don’t let one of them be – I wish I had…
I’ve posted here before about dealing with life’s setbacks or roadblocks and one key thing that may not have been said as well as Jack’s post puts it is the ability to erase it (put it behind you) and move on – to be given a new leaf or to give yourself a new leaf and not to dwell on your past failures or disappointments. Use your eraser.
have happened in the past. There is no real way to do what they do on the TV program Timeline and go back in time to make things different, so why waste a lot of time beating yourself up for your past mistakes. They happened and you don’t get a do-over. You do still have the opportunity to do-better in the future. Use your eraser.
Some spend their time looking for scapegoats – someone else to blame those things on. Still others just can’t give themselves a break and make bad decisions worse by beating themselves up over and over again. A few get bogged down in a bad case of the coulda, woudla, shoulda’s and can’t seem to get out. Use your eraser.
and the ability to go on, forgiven and renewed. Perhaps the best explanation for that metaphor is that God is the Great Eraser and prayer is the way you use it. If you honestly pray for forgiveness God will grant that to you and grant you the peace to go on with your life. Use your Eraser.
Groucho’s saying certainly rings true during this silly season of politics. If you believe all of the political ads that are being run on TV there’s not an honest, trustworthy politician running from either party. None of them are running many ads that focus upon what they might do if elected; however, all of them are warning us about the dangers of electing the scum bags that they are running against. If you believe one political attack add, you might as well believe them all.
isn’t soccer practice or a match that morning.
however, how much better and more intimate a setting for that experience is the comfort and quiet of your own house. It is there that you can have those meaningful, one-on-one experiences with God that shape your life and help you solve your problems.
NormsMilfordBlog 