Charity

A few weeks back, as I was relaxing on my couch and flipping through my TV channels, or in other words, seeing what else in TV, I was strangely drawn into the Glen Beck show in Fox News. I didn’t blink for the next 30 minutes. Glen was interviewing an old man. The old man was sharing his experience in life, his values, and morals. I was not sure what drew me into him. He was telling his morals, ethics, and principles which we heard many times but didn’t bother to listen. His words were simple, stories genuine and convincing. The main theme was his Charity deeds.

The old man’s name is Jon M Huntsman. He is a self-made billionaire and philanthropist and is giving more than $1 Billion of his own money to create the Huntsman Cancer Institute research hospital in Salt Lake City, and a network of Huntsman Cancer Hospitals across the United States. His book “Winners Never Cheat” explains his personal philosophy about life, and shows that you can succeed in business while maintaining your values, ethics, and integrity.  His son is currently serving as US Ambassador for China and may possibly be the republican nominee for the presidential election in 2012.

Maybe due to the Christmas season, I was intrigued with the concept of charity. Even though I was brought up in a God-fearing family and completed my education in a convent school, I never made a conscious effort to give away money for charitable purposes. Occasionally, I had contributed money to help organizations and relief operations across the globe through payroll deductions and Red Cross. However, I never thought of doing anything substantial until I saw this show. I did some soul searching and reading about this topic in the last few weeks.

Following are the reasons, why I think charity is important.

1) Charity, plain and simple, is the direct way one can help others in need.
You can perform charity either as a monetary contribution or with your time or service. The key is participation. By participating in charity, you can directly help a person in distress.

2) Support a cause: Choosing the right charitable organization and contributing towards it shows a direct reflection of your values and perspectives. You can contribute your money to support a cause or faith which you strongly believe. This will not only support the organization that promotes the cause but also spread its influence, presence, and its message. 
Check http://www.charitynavigator.org for evaluating which charity best fits you.

3) It helps you: Helping others improves your self-worth in many ways. No deed can make you so happy and gratifying than experiencing the joy of giving. Your contribution is compounded by the criticality of the time it was required. No other investment has the time value as a charitable donation.

4) A good investment can either make a good return or make a great impact. Charity falls in the latter category.  

5) Religious significance:  Charity, preached by every religion of the world, is a way of bringing justice to society. All religions promote the charity. Charity reinforces the principle that our world is mutually dependent and interconnected.

Among Hindus, it is the third observance (out of 10 Niyamas), Giving or charity (dana) - giving generously without thought of reward.

Charity, in Christian thought, the highest form of love, signifying the reciprocal love between God and man that is made manifest in the unselfish love of one’s fellow men.

Charity is one of the five pillars of Islam. A charity that is Zakah, is obligatory and binding upon all those who embrace Islam. 

 

To conclude, I wish all of you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Let’s make 2011 one long, extended gift of ourselves to others.