People's capacity to want to give, to help, to save, is evident everywhere. We see it in many ways: in concern for the earth, in charitable contributions, in what neighbors do for one another. But so often charitable acts seem to need an inducement in order to bring them out. Sometimes the inducement is public recognition and award ceremonies. At other times tax deductibility at the end of the year is the encouragement. Inducement can come by combining recreational or entertainment activities with fund drives, or it is as simple as receiving a T-shirt or other status item that communicates "I gave!"
We need generosity. We need the practical love and community action that provide opportunity for people to better their lives. Such action is an honest recognition that people are inevitably united in common interest. This was unquestionably at least a part of what Christ Jesus' life was about. Yet the charity that poured out from the Master's life wasn't a mere transfer of material resources from haves to have-nots. His works of healing and reformation were rooted in a powerful, reorienting understanding that man is the reflection of God's being. To comprehend the divine Love that is God is to be moved by a power that transforms human life instead of simply making it a little more bearable.
Jesus redefined neighbor to mean that wherever there is need, there is a demand for response. And he traveled beyond his own family circle and village to reach his fellowman.
