Deck the Halls with Bawls of Hypocrites!

The other day on the news there was a report on how far behind the Salvation Army was on their Toyland Express toy drive for Christmas. The numbers were disheartening and motivated me to action. I took up a toy drive at work, challenging my coworkers and offering to take any toys donated to the Salvation Army myself. For a bunch of non-profit workers, the drive was a fabulous success! We had three boxes of toys and probably close to 100 toys. I loaded them all into my car and headed over to the main branch for drop-off, thinking about how good I would feel doing so. When I got there the parking lot was over-run by both donors and those that needed assistance. There wasn't a parking space to be found. As a result I was parked about as far away as was possible and grabbed the first box to take in. Weaving between hastily parked cars and traffic, I noticed people hauling in food baskets. I passed people who were dropping in for assistance, all smiling and joking with me. The lady at the drop-off counter barely had a moment to ask if I needed a receipt before moving on to the next person in line. I moved through the chaos and back out into the cold to get the next box. People filed past me in the opposite direction with more food baskets coming in. I got to the car, grabbed the next box and headed back in. I noticed that the food baskets were coming back out as fast as they were going in. I glanced hastily through the crowd at what was either the meal kitchen, or the meal pick-up room. It was filled to capacity it seemed. Slowly the pride that I thought I would feel started to dwindle. It was as if I was Sisyphus pushing a giant boulder up a mountain. Was I even making a dent? I know that every little bit helps. But the need I was surrounded by was so overwhelming, and yet the atmosphere was one of humility and thanks. There were people holding doors, helping wheel things in, keeping mindful of traffic and clear of the pathways. These are the people who feel "entitled"? I questioned. Yes, I suppose they feel entitled to have no food on the table, or to feel humiliated that they can't feed their family, or to watch their child slowly suffer through sickness and die. Have the people that use the term "entitlement programs" ever been to a soup kitchen, or a Salvation Army, or a mission?



A vision grew in my mind. The conservatives that are out there tend to be from religious backgrounds. Tell me how you would answer this scenario. If Jesus himself were to come down and ask you to make a decision..."I am going to help a predetermined group of people. These people have sick kids, and no jobs and no food. But I'll be honest with you. Of these ten people, at least three of them aren't really in need of help. But either I help all of them, or I help none of them. Tell me what you think I should do." What answer would you give him? What answer do you think he would want to hear from one of his followers?




Seems to me that it's pretty clear. I left the chaos and went to do my rounds of errands. I dropped some money in the bell ringer's can, and then donated to the soup kitchen at the grocery store. I can already feel the boulder rolling back down towards me!