Contributed by:
Dave Franson
Franson Consulting, owner
Wichita Aero Club, president
Do the Deed carries a personal meaning for me. I’ve had lots of occasions when I’ve been touched by acts of kindness….like calls, notes and visits when I lost a job I loved…and encouragement that helped me move on. Or occasions like this past summer, when I experienced numerous acts of kindness as I faced a death in the family. As I can attest from that event, it’s often just the giving of some time, the willingness to listen or provide a caring presence – rather than presents – that makes a difference.
That’s not to say that material support isn’t also valuable, especially at this time of year. Those of us who don’t ever experience need seldom realize how difficult it can be to acquire even the necessities of life. How many of us have half a dozen coats from which to choose each winter? Would we miss one (or more) if we donated it (or them) to the YMCA’s Coat Drive? What about considering opportunities like Operation Christmas Child or Angel Trees? Filling a shoe box with small items for a needy child or making sure that kids whose parents are unable to provide even a small gift at Christmas because they’re incarcerated doesn’t cost much, and it’s actually fun to pick out gifts, wrap them up, and imagine the reactions of surprised kids when they get a gift from a Mom or Dad they miss so much during the Holidays. Though true compassion doesn’t seek a reward, it often generates one. In Isaiah 58:10-11, the Old Testament directly addresses doing deeds of kindness…and provides a perspective on the consequences! It says:
If you give yourself to the hungry,
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in the darkness,
And your gloom will become like midday.
And the Lord will continually guide you,
and satisfy your desire in scorched places,
and give strength to your bones,
and you will be like a watered garden,
and like a spring whose waters do not fail.
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