Nursing students are particularly difficult to teach because they are competitive to the point of being cutthroat. Everyone expects great things, and they are all under intense pressure to perform in order to gain admission. Some of them do odd things to get noticed, and more than a few involve themselves in service in order to demonstrate that they "care about people" and in order to win points with the admission committee. Trouble is, every college program that demands this does a disservice. Students are forced to do it, and the recipients benefit from a half-baked and misguided effort, and so nobody benefits from the virtues of the others. Service, charity, and alms, they are something we are supposed to do because it makes us different from the rest of creation- we do things that help others without thought of reward. Well, that's the idea, but all too often, it's done selfishly, with an eye to benefit, and so the reward ends immediately. Since we all seem to want to matter, the alms we do stratify us and other people stratify us based on our alms. I guess we forgot that we are all beggars.
Unless you declare your alms AND do something they consider worthy, your charity is illegitimate in the eyes of the powerful. College and job applications invite you to take credit for charitable work in order to look better than your fellows. Politicians continue to prattle about how we need to be charitable and list their own deeds in order to justify why they are more virtuous than we. However, not everything is considered a charity, and the IRS only recognizes donations to certain things as charities although the church of the flying spaghetti monster sounds interesting. In order to get credit, you must sound your alms in the streets, which is what HYPOCRITES do. It is assumed that if you don't declare them you must not be doing anything charitable. You must be evil. Eventually, this inaccurate and artificial stratification establishes inequities between people, and a new caste system, the Compassion Caste, ranks those who do to be seen of men as if they were the best thereof.
Many do alms to be seen of men while others do them to be seen of God. I used to feel embarrassed to report my charitable contributions on my taxes. In fact, several years I took the standard deduction because I didn't want $200 in refund money to be the end of my blessings for doing good works. However, a new advertisement by Huckabee claims that because Cruz only gave 1% to charity he must not be very charitable. Maybe that's not why he does it. Maybe there's more he doesn't tell people he does. During the 2008 election when Joe Biden released his tax returns, I found it interesting that I gave more that year to charity than he did. Of course, he's ramped it up now, but that's probably to be seen of men. I claim it on my taxes to not miss out, but I am not interested in publishing my tax returns or having people wonder how much I give or why. In fact, I prefer people not know, that He who seeth in secret may reward me openly. The fascination with immediate gratification leads people to do things that gain them laud, glory, and honor from people and for today. They do what seems good rather than what will really be good. They look to advance themselves or point out how they "do more than others". Well, if you love only them who love you, what do you more than others? Do not even the Publicans so? Drawing attention to a perceived lack of compassion in me does not repair your breaches, it just distracts men from the beam in your eye.
When you act for the wrong reason it deprives you of lasting virtues. How many philanthopists do we really remember? Are their legacies still extant? Ironically enough, many charitable organizations that persist originated in wickedness. Only at the end did the founders thereof understand. Only when all the honors and glories of men are stripped away in death do they really act to care about others. Look at Ebenezer Scrooge. Only when faced with the prospect of celebration in his demise and the chains of pain in hell did he decide to change. In truth, Liberals equate compassion with excellence, so they give, not because they care about the people who receive, but because it's a way they advance their careers. They give to get credit, give to get accolades, and so as Jesus taught they have their reward, and the rewards given by the world for this amount to a great deal. However, gold and silver buy up false priests who oppress and tyrants who reign with blood and horror. The only way it matters is if you can find a way to skirt along on their coattails, reveling in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Songwriters say we all want to be rockstars. No wonder young people are obsessed with affirmation on social media. They model the behavior of the adults they know who equate fame, recognition, wealth, good looks, "likes", "shares", ad infinitum with value, morality, and righteousness. It's STILL a popularity contest, and the adults of today continue to promote people based on the high school values of yesteryear, that whoever looks the best must be. Consequently, they draw attention to their philanthropy out of a desire to appear to be the best but not because they actually care about anyone they don't know or like.
Sometimes, like on my taxes or on this blog, I tell people about what I do. I am not expecting accolades or rewards, and I tell you what I tell you to illustrate principles I learn from what I do. I have nobody's stories to tell with permission besides my own. Honestly, this world has nothing to give me that I really desire except for one thing. This is the place for me to find a partner in and for life. Nothing more. Consequently, the awards and accolades of men will not help me. They will attract the wrong type of people- people who will "love" me for what I have, for things I have done or what I become rather than for who and what I am. What I do, I do to draw nearer to God hoping that as I draw near to Him He will provide what is really good for me to have and do and be. Honestly, the richest service to me is my family. I know people don't like doing that because there are no special rewards for doing what you ought and serving those we all expect you to serve, but that's the highest service to which I aspire- to be a dad. It's probably not very spectacular or glamorous or maybe even lucrative. It is however virtuous. It's the highest form of teacher. It is however seen of God. It is worthy. It is a sacrifice, one worth making. It is often secret. It is often unremarkable. It is however how each of you got here because somewhere there was a parent who nurtured you or nurtured someone who gave rise to you. It is a sacrifice I find worthy. What sacrifices will you make? Who will know? What rewards do you really seek? One hundred years from now, most people won't remember who you are or what you did. What you really leave behind is your family.
No comments:
Post a Comment