After a night out on the town in Fort McMurray I went back to a buddy’s house and I left around 3AM. I called for a taxi and stood in the lobby. To my surprise I found two men sleeping by the door. My jaw hit the ground. As sheltered as this sounds, I have never seen a homeless person at that time in the morning. I see homeless people only ever in the big city while it’s busy and the city is alive but I have never seen a homeless person when a city is asleep. Watching those two sleep at the same time that I usually sleep really shook me up. I only imagine homeless people when they are awake and working the street but never when they sleep and look almost at peace.

Sunday I spent in my hotel room wondering what had happened to those two that got them to the spot they were at and why I was exposed to it. I thought about their lack of money and there inability to make money. I thought maybe they preferred sleeping like that or even worse – that they deserved it. When I came to the conclusion of them deserving it, I almost puked; I was literally sick to my stomach. At that point it hit me that I am a selfish person and the only charity I care about is the charity of Ron Smith

How did I get his way?

It has occurred to me that we are our own charity cases. Accumulating debt has somehow made us believe that what we are able to give in regards to charity can only happen after we have taken care of our needs and the majority (if not all) of our wants.
By being in debt, we can look at others who are in a bad way and be apathetic. Our excuse “I’d love to help (insert poor bastards name or honest charity here) but I have debt coming out the wazoo!”

It’s hard to ever imagine giving a good portion of our money to a cause out side of our personal gain because we are programmed to believe that we need to be getting ahead. We blindly believe that we are in a race with everyone to gain things. Giving to charity might make you look like a good and generous person but you are surely a fool in the race for consumption.

When we view our life on a scale for consumption, charity doesn’t make any sense. “Why would I give someone else my hard earned money so he can have more and I have less?” It’s a dangerous slop but unfortunately it is our culture.

I convinced myself last month that I am in difficult time’s money wise so instead of giving up personal wants and desires, I did the logical thing and stopped tithing to my church. Its one thing to say your going to commit to a charity but when the rubber hits the road and your standard of living is at risk – my charities take the back seat, quite sad.

Charity has become such an accessory; so meaningless. I think we as a society got this way because we all believe that giving to the poor should be unnecessary and we should focus our efforts to making a society where poverty and homelessness don’t exist. And they are right; I suppose I ought to believe that we can (someday) establish a society where people don’t go without. But if anyone thinks that as a consequence, we can stop giving to charity in the meantime, we are sadly mistaken.

I’m going to drop a crazy thought for a minute. This is something I believe in totally but I don’t have the brass to actually partake in it.

What if we viewed charity as a necessity to pay into? We viewed charity as important as we do paying our monthly loans? If we thought about charity the same way we did about debt I think our communities would be in a lot better shape. What if we thought “getting ahead” meant to better the lives of those around us? What if we actually put ourselves out when it came to charity? I don’t just mean giving to charities either, that would be foolish.

Imagine a conversation that went like this. “Sorry pal, I can’t come out for drinks tonight because I just gave my last 50 to a neighbor that is really in need.” “I can’t make it out tonight because I am working overtime so I can give more to my local charity.” Could you imagine the impact on the world if we ALL lived like this? If we actually fathomed going without so that others could go with?

I don’t suppose you can argue on how much to give. I would say that if you live as lavish as those who make the same as you then you give to little. If our charity doesn’t hamper or pinch us at all then I would say we give too little.