Giving connects me to my place in the world and to faraway places. One of the things I love about Habitat for Humanity is that you actually get to see what you are supporting. What a thrill to drive by a house your gift helped to build! You can even work on a house if you want to. Giving to my congregation and hometown causes strengthens my ties to the people God has put around me.
Giving to people across the world connects me to those whose lives are very different, and usually much more difficult, than mine. When I help fund a well to provide clean drinking water halfway around the world, I get a better sense of what so many people in the world are up against. Turning on my faucet becomes a whole new experience for me, an experience that helps me gauge my responsibilities to God’s children everywhere.
This message is excerpted from “Good for the soul” by Karen Melang in the May 2015 Gather magazine.
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