...sshhh...

 

Self-harm For A Biscuit

I went to give blood tonight.  Self-harm for a biscuit, as my son calls it.

Just another small gesture to try and help someone else. Something that I have done over the years in an attempt to make a difference in this world. To do a bit of good. To save someone's life. I counted up, it was my 66th donation tonight.

I'm glad I went. The nurse was telling me how low blood stocks were following the bad weather we experienced last week. They had cancelled so many donation sessions last week. She thanked me perfusely for taking the trouble to come out...

But how much had this helped? All those donations, all those biscuits...

It's not easy to find out what difference all those multiple "small gestures" has made to this world, as I haven't a clue how my blood may have been used. A serious operation may use multiple donations to keep one patient alive...

In addition, blood is usually separated into its individual components or parts, so a patient can be given the particular component they need. Thus, the components in one unit of blood (or one donation) can be used to treat different patients.

So I can't tell. However, I can speculate. Even if I was going to take a conservative estimate, and say that one life was saved for every two of my donations... (and that's a number I read somewhere or other)...

That's 33 lives saved.

Wow.

Give

1 Peter 4:10-11 (NIV)
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Waiting For A Response

It's nice to get a "thank you" now and again, don't you agree?

I can't possibly recall the number of times that I've been thanked - on the whole, people are usually quite kind. In response to a kindness shown, a gesture of sympathy, a gift given. It's nice to get an acknowledgement back .

However, there are one or two people that never seem to do this. And you are left feeling unsure whether the thing that you did was well received - whether it was somehow 'lacking' - whether the gift was discarded, thrown on a pile of other unwelcome gifts - or sometimes, if they ever received the gift at all!

And it's not just me (as I used to think!) - others tell me similar stories. Some people don't say "thank you".

I'm feeling for these people today. Actually, to tell the truth, I'm trying to understand them...

• Are they ungrateful?
• Do they expect my kindness as 'the least I could do'?
• Do they feel that it is below them to show any kind of appreciation?
• Is this lack of gratitude actually a sign of arrogance?

I read the summary of a study which was commissioned by Avery a few years ago, and published in the London Evening Standard. It revealed that as many as one in four employees had never had a "thank you" from their employer. Bosses in the city seem to take 'going the extra mile' for granted. Or worse - they make an effort to say "thank you" without truly meaning it, whilst continuing to give out increasingly impossible jobs with unrealistic deadlines...

However, I still keep coming back to the conclusion that has been revealed to me in my quiet times. It doesn't matter. In fact, it's me who needs to respond. With forgiveness. Sure, sometimes I don't get those thanks. Or even any acknowledgement. But that's no good reason for me to stop caring.

I need to keep on trying. One day, I might get a heartfelt response when I least expect it.

Stick Around

Psalm 23:5 (NIV)
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

The words of the 23rd Psalm are of course familiar to us all - but frequently something new stands out, even in the most familiar of verses. When the psalm was read earlier today, my attention was drawn to the overflowing cup in verse five.

How often have we been in a restaurant or a coffee shop and been all too aware of the staff member, constantly watching you, just waiting for you to finish your drink so they can clean up after you have gone?

Rather than simply tolerating a guest, the psalmist is showing us an example of our Father's generous hospitality, as He refills our cups to the brim once again. You don't have to go. Stick around for more! What a great image. He wants his honoured guests to make themselves feel at home. The anointing with oil? Another sign of extreme generosity. God the Father has so much that He wants to give us, and loves to give it.

Stick around. There's plenty where that came from...

Play To Your Strengths

I've been encouraged over the last few years to push myself out of my comfort zone, to try and do something new in my life. Some of my recent escapades have been documented in this blog. Now, learning what you can do anew is a great idea (you find out new things you are good at!), however there comes the inevitable time when you need to stop and take stock of your life. Whilst I have been looking at the whole subject of sacrificial giving, I have looked at my own giving, reviewing the use of my time and talents as well as my finances. About what I do for Him, give to Him.... And how to do better.

As part of this I've been giving consideration to my own strengths. Stuff that I feel really comfortable doing. I think that I've been getting so practiced at ignoring the boundaries of my comfort zone that I've begun to forget what it is that I am good at! Instead of pushing these particular boundaries all the time, reaching out into those areas where I know I am weak, I'd like for a while to explore 'playing to my strengths'. On working on my own particular gifts, on ways to use them more wisely. Let's face it, what would have happened if the great musicians of our time hadn't decided to devote their lives to their obvious gifting. Each of them took time to practice, to develop their natural strengths. In this case, the gift of music.

I'm not particularly gifted in music, but I do the best I can. We can't all be good at everything, however each of us has a natural aptitude in something. Christians talk of spiritual gifts, acknowledging the fact that these gifts ultimately come from God. Some of us don't even recognise what our strengths are. I've taken a number of spiritual gift questionnaires - you can find some online if you look - so I think I have a pretty good idea.

Most web articles I have read this week on this topic suggest that you should 'play to your strengths' - that is, to spend the majority of your time working at something where you have an aptitude. If others are better at the things where you are weak, why not let them do it?

I realise that it is unlikely I will ever be anything other than average in areas where I don't have a specific gift. What I need to do is to ensure I do plenty of what I'm really good at - use the gifts God has given me to the best of my ability. I know that if I invest my time and energy in something I know I am good at, and enjoy doing, then I'm working in the right direction.

Romans 12:4-8 (New International Version, ©2010)
4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Generosity

Acts 20:35 (New International Version, ©2010)

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Repetition is such a necessity for effective training. You need to be told something a number of times before it eventually takes hold and sinks in. I can't remember the number of times that I have heard the above quotation. I have endeavoured to practice this, to live out the concept in what I do and say. However, it's only over this weekend that I began to grasp some of the reasoning behind this concept.

I think part of the problem is 21st Century culture. If I am injured, society teaches us that I need to seek compensation (I did a separate post on 'Blame Culture', a while ago. See the link here). If I do something for someone, society says that I expect to get adequately compensated for the task. "You don't get something for nothing!"

Now, I look at this a little differently. I've worked in a whole host of voluntary roles for pretty much all of my life. Social clubs, Fan clubs, Advisory Councils, Committees, Scout Groups, and of course Church. If something catches my eye as being worthwhile and exciting, I'll be there, showing an interest. It's not what it earns me that motivates me. I have found this attitude causes confusion - people simply can't grasp why I could do something for nothing. It doesn't make sense to them.

At the weekend the meeting touched on the subject of sacrificial giving, as part of the launch of the Army's Self-Denial Appeal for this year. The subject matter has really challenged me to rethink my whole reasoning for giving. Not to encourage me to give - I do that anyway - but to examine why I give. Giving of your time and talents freely, and sacrificially. Giving, because there are folk out there who have so much less than you. Giving, because without your gift, they would more than likely continue to go without. Giving, and not expecting to be paid back. Giving until the pips squeak...

We have a practical example here in the incident described in Mark 12:41-43, the donation of the "Widow's Mite". In this example, Jesus told his disciples the widow had given so more than all the others. The rich folk donated only a small proportion of their wealth; the widow put in two small coins, however this was all she had.

"If not you, then who?
If not now, then when?"   - Hillel the Elder

I guess that this is a topic I'll come back to again this month. I'll leave you with this quotation:

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”  

  - John Wesley

Give It Away

Luke 6:37-38 (The Message)

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticise their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."