Givers and Takers

In the cartoon Peanuts, Lucy once said to Charlie Brown, “We are put here to serve others. Charlie responded, “Then what are the others here for?” At times life does seem to be unfair. For a season, givers may find themselves surrounded by takers. Givers can feel unjustly used, yet, in the final analysis, takers will never know the fulfillment of giving.

In times of national disaster such as hurricanes and floods, we see a perfect example of givers and takers.  There are people who price gouge to obtain huge profits and those who loot to take what they cannot get lawfully.  Then we see other people who travel thousands of miles at their own expense to help people restore and rebuild their devastated lives. They don’t do it for a pat-on-the-back. The reward of those who serve is inherent in the act of serving.

If we are honest, there are times where we all have felt like Charlie Brown did.  It appears that the users of people and circumstances get all the rewards.  It is easy to start to envy the takers.  Yes, takers do sometimes get the short-term gain, but the givers get a more long-term commodity, feeling good about what they have done. We should feel sorry for those who are so busy getting for themselves, that they never know the joy of giving to others.  The memory of those you have helped lingers on long after the glitter of material things is gone.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.