Saturday, January 26, 2008

Why shy?

A thought I wanted to share:

Sometimes philanthropy can be embarrassing, and I'm not really sure why. For example, earlier this week I bought some soup for a homeless man-- same guy as before. When I reached the place where he was sitting, there were some people headed my way, and I waited for them to pass before handing the soup to the guy.

Why? What sense does that make?

I guess I just wish my first reaction was "if people see me do this, maybe they'll be inspired to help, too." But that wasn't the case... it seemed almost shameful.

Has anyone else ever felt this way?

1 comment:

david b mclaughlin said...

I've never been embarrassed by it but as a christian we are taight not to parade our "good works" before men. The idea is that some people (not what you are talking about) want everyone to see what they are doing so they will be praised. I prefer just to do what I do and God knows what I do.

I do think, however, there is validity to doing things in the open to the extent that our motive is to encourage others to participate.

It all boils down to motives. It seems to me like you have the right motives.