Things That Work / Generosity

 

Neil Thomas

Just in time for Christmas

Christmastime is a time of generosity. Giving is always way up at this time of year. Afterall the weeks leading up to Christmas are reminders of the Hope, Peace, Love and Joy promised by the prophets. 

Vocabulary.com defines generosity as a quality that's a lot like unselfishness. Someone showing generosity is happy to give time, money, food, or kindness to people in need. Generosity is a quality — like honesty and patience — that we all probably wish we had more of.

Generosityforlife.org points out generosity can be actualized through various forms of giving. Generous activities include: monetary donations, volunteering, political action, blood donation, estate giving, lending possessions, sustainability giving, [and] relational generosity.”

What are the characteristics that define a generous person? 

5 Qualities of Generous People

• Altruism. First and foremost, generous people are altruistic. ...
• Optimism. Generous people are idealists. ...
• Trust. Trust is a major quality amongst the most generous people. ...
• Energy. When you think of people being generous, energy is one of the first things that come to mind. ...
• Ability to lead.

The Ability to Lead

“The single most important attribute of leadership is generosity.” – Jack Welch

As a generous leader give of your time rather than just money, and seek out the opportunity to fuel the success of others. -johneads for learnloft.com

The other thing you should know, generosity is a year round thing, not just for the holidays. 

Generosity starts with our own generosity. Think about it. We cannot control the generosity of others. We have no control over what they do, but we can lead by example. 

I found this at restavekfreedom.org, generosity begets generosity, meaning that it is contagious and easily caught. Having generous friends and neighbors can rub off and inspire you to be more generous. Likewise, being a generous community member will impact not only those who receive, but increase the nature of generosity in your circles of influence.

It worked in all those radio fund drives I participated in. One call would lead to other calls, and at times, a cascade of calls. Those of us on the receiving end needed to make sure we showed our gratitude. And we were thankful for the first call and all the calls that followed. The acknowledgement of support, is as important as the act of giving.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

President Barack Obama

Fighting Slavery

From Empathy to Action

It may seem hard for people who care about the welfare of the stranger to find something positive after the decision by President Trump to end DACA. The future of the Dreamers is now in the hands of a congress that has been deeply divided on this issue for at least 10 years.


DACA was originally set up as a compassionate act. After several years of inaction by congress the policy was set in place by President Obama. Children were sent here by their family to escape poverty, war , hunger and slavery. According to Reference.com Under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, certain individuals who immigrated to the United States as children are able to request deferred action on their immigration status for two years, explains the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Certain guidelines must be met in order to qualify.

The need for a safe haven for children is urgent.

NPR reports the number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people around the world has topped 65 million according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.The reports goes on to say,"One in every 113 people on Earth has now been driven from their home by persecution, conflict and violence or human rights violations. Two other ways to wrap your mind around that number: Each minute, 24 people around the world flee their home because of violence or persecution. And if the world's displaced people were their own nation, it would be larger than the United Kingdom." The problem of refugees is not going away any time soon.

• According to UNICEF 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. 
• UNICEF estimates 22,000 children die each day due to poverty.

Among the those living in poverty are individuals being sold into slavery. One group that works to free people from slavery The International Justice Mission (IJM) says, "Millions of the world’s poor are trapped in slavery, because there’s no one there to protect them. In many places, the laws against slavery simply aren’t enforced by the police and courts—so slave owners and traffickers know they can prey on the poor without fear of any consequences at all."

• Many of the impoverished children are sold into slavery. 
• There are more people in slavery today than at anytime in history...over 45 million.  
• Five million are children. At least one in four is in India.
• Over 800,000 have been sold into slavery so far this year.
• 1.2 million children are being trafficked every year.

IJM isn't just reporting on this situation, they have put their words into action. To find out more about IJM's mission and how they putting thoughts into action, watch this video.

IJM is a global organization that protects the poor from violence in the developing world. They fight against slavery, sex trafficking, sexual violence, police brutality, property grabbing, and citizens rights abuse.