Giving

[pecunium]

So, archer904 is up to about a grand. I suspect he will be close to 2,500 bucks before he's done.

I was thinking about this earlier. He says he isn't going to get hit so badly he can't make the donation. He may be donating more than he expected to, but it's not going to break him.

He could have just looked in the bank and figured out every spare penny he has and given it to the Red Cross, or Noah's Wish, or whomever he thought could to the most good. And that would have been good.

So why should I, who posted a comment, and so caused a dollar I don't own to be sent the way of some needy people, be happy because so many others have done so?

Those people haven't actually contributed (other than to give a reason for someone else to donate). He could have given as much (or more) than this. Yes, because he chose this method they have taken part, some small amount of help had them as the proximate cause, and that's a good thing. They can be comforted by it (I am).

But it's bigger than that, and I'm trying to figure out why.

I think, as I've been saying elsewhere, this points out that we are all in this together. This lets a whole lot of people, who don't know each other (save by those degrees of separation pull on the same rope and lift some people out of the mire.

So, kudos to archer904 and a nod to all of those who chose to help him be generous.






Edit: I think I know part of what makes this so uplifting. He set no limits. He didn't say, I can give X, and if enough of you care, they will get that much. No, he said he would give as much as people cared. He is living an ideal, and we can share in it.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;

Comments

[selinawoman.livejournal.com]

This is what you call getting the most bang from your buck. Not only does he get the reward of knowing he donated to a cause that needed our help but he also help eliviate the guilt that so many of us are feeling because we could not do more. He gets twice the rewards inside. You know, where it counts. I think it's coolbeans personally.

[godesovluv.livejournal.com]

Maybe he feels like he doesn't know how generous he can be. I can go to the bank and see that I can spare, oh sayyyy... $200 this month. In reality, I could probably spare a lot more. A lot of people can. But they pick some arbitrary number, and off they go.

This guy is making a large community tell him how generous he is. He wants to give, but how much is an appropriate amount?

I'm not sure I'm conveying quite what I have in my head, so I'll stop here.

[archer904.livejournal.com]

Nah, not exactly. I decided how generous I was going to be when I decided to do it. A friend asked me what would happen if I got 10,000 comments. I told him I'd either find a company that wanted to be associated with charity, or I'd sleep on his couch and send my rent money to disaster relief until it was paid off. I take home a little over $2k per month, with a couple hundred more coming in every other month from my writing. I've got $1000 I can put towards the bill right now. I'm expecting about $2000 in sponsorship. I can donate $1000 a month until the balance is paid off, and that's what I'll do if I don't find more sponsors.

I'm not doing this for me. It's a lot of work. It doesn't always feel good in the moment (although it does when I stop to think about it). I spend hours every day writing back to the people who write me, making press contacts, etc. I've carved that time out of a schedule that didn't have any free time to start with. But that's okay: that's why they call it "sacrifice." I'll tell you, when it starts to feel like too much, I think about what it would be like to have my home wiped from the face of the earth, wonder whether my sister is okay or dead in an attic or shot or raped, and where I'm going to sleep next week, or next year when FEMA and the Red Cross are finished helping me. THEN I don't feel so annoyed about the time or money.

I'm doing this for all the poor people whose souls call them to action, but whose circumstances preclude action. All these people can say "I came together with my community and we raised five thousand dollars to help." I'm not the one who made that happen. The five thousand people who commented did.

Thanks for your time. I didn't see your comment on my blog. Did I miss it, or have you not been over? If not, go over and send a dollar to New Orleans.

And be well.

[godesovluv.livejournal.com]

I just left my comment there.

I wasn't exactly able to capture the idea in my head. I didn't mean to undermine your generosity; obviously the simple act of making the statement you made makes you a generous person. This just seems like a good way to be the best you can be. It pushes you to give more than you might've and you'll know when this is done you've done your best to help.

Kudos, my good man. You're an excellent human being to have on this rock.

[ginmar.livejournal.com]

You missed a spot.

And earthly mercy shows nearest to God's when mercy seasons justice."

When mercy seasons justice. Before such perfection....is there any comment?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I left it out, because I didn't see a way to get there without elision, and that rang false.

But I agree, Justice can only be seasoned with mercy.

TK