What You Give

I stood in front of a showcase of women’s jewellery, staring with my mouth wide open.. both in awe and in shock. A beautiful diamond studded necklace, with a price tag equivalent to the price of a small car, or working man’s wages for a full year, and many times over a beggar’s collection for life.

An obscene amount of money to be paying for some shiny little stones to hang around your neck.

“Who buys these stuff anyway? Who could ever afford such things?” I asked myself rhetoricallly. I knew who.

The rich and ultra rich of course; the people we all love to hate, but secretly love to be.

The two people who were with me simply shook their head and walked away, with a look of disdain on their faces. But what were we expecting anyway? We were after all in Starhill, Bukit Bintang. Things didn’t get any more posh and expensive in KL than over here.

It’s not hard to understand why people sometimes harbour a dislike for the rich of society. Some would hate them simple because they aren’t one of them.

But for most of us, I think it has a lot to do with that necklace behind the showcase - sold at the price of a small fortune. The thought that there are people who not only afford, but actually do pay that kind of money for a shiny piece of ornament, while the majority of the population struggle with bread and butter issues, it’s just outrageous.

Nothing wrong with being rich. But I do wonder whether the people who buy these things with spare cash ever thought of spending that spare cash on charity instead. It could mean someone's education, it could mean someone's next meal. It could mean someones life or death. That same amount of money can change a person’s life.

I know this because that amount of money changed MY life. Someone who had that money made it a point to spend it on me, when money was the crucial determinant of how the rest of my life would unfold. Instead of keeping it for other things, they chose to bless me with it. They stood to gain nothing out of it, yet they did it anyway. With it, I got myself an education, a job and a life. I could afford paying my mother’s medical bills, I could afford no longer living on others sympathy. With it, my life changed course.

It’s so easy to hate the person who will ultimately buy that necklace. It’s easy to imagine that they are selfish, careless people blowing a fortune on superfluous things, conveniently ignoring the sufferings of the world. We want them pulled down to the ground, to taste the bitter earth and harsh soils the rest of us live in. We want to teach this rich brats a lesson or two about what it really means to have a tough life. That way we’d believe justice has been done and we’d sleep better at night.We want them to know that the amount of money they have has the power to change lives, but they are abusing that power on superfluous things.

But what if it’s not true? What if the person buying that necklace turns out to be someone really nice? what if what someone gives as much as he/she gets? Would you still resent them buying an expensive necklace even after having done more than their share of civic duties to society? Will you resent a billionaire who gives away billions?

It’s hard to hate a giver isn’t it?

Maybe what we really hate isn’t just rich people at all. Maybe its not so simple. Maybe what we hate are people that aren’t givers. People who have received so much in life yet fail to give back any. Rich people become easy targets because having a lot implies precisely that; that you have received plenty but given back little. But again, this is not an attack on people with money.

Forbes magazine tells you that the two richest man in the world, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are also one of the greatest philanthropist in the world, having given away billions. But for me, there is someone else – a simple man named Rick Warren. Rick was the pastor who wrote the best seller book ‘A Purpose Driven Life’ that Christians the world over have read. The book sales made him an instant millionaire. What did he do with all that money? He gave it way.

ALL OF IT.

He even paid his church back all the salary he’d been drawing since the beginning.

If average joe’s like you and me received 10 million dollars out of the blue one day, how much will YOU give out?

It’s easy for billionaires like Bill Gates to give out billions because he already has more than he can ever need. Everything else after that is just about numbers. But for average people like you and me, how hard it is to give out money we so desperately need ourselves. In my heart, I believe Rick Warren gave more than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, simply because it meant so much more to him than them. I wrote about this some time back, read it and you’ll see what I mean.

http://ifimbeinghonest.blogspot.com/2010/07/widows-offering.html


In the mean time, here’s the amazing talk and testimony Rick Warren gave. Do listen to it. It’s powerful, and inspiring. If only you listen.

If you're a rich man, and you're reading this. Think carefully about the next fifty thousand dollars you're about to blow at a casino or at the designer boutique. You have the power to either waste it away, or change someones life. Think about that for a moment.

And if you can't think of anyone in particular who needs it.... well, you can always give it to me. ;-)

Have a good weekend everyone.