Generosity in Action

I was recently looking at the website for the Spirit and Place Festival that will be taking place November 2 – 18 here in Indianapolis.  Broadway is hosting an event on November 10th called Hidden in Plain Sight and I was curious to learn a little more about what other events were being offered around town. 

As I brought up the website’s home page (www.spiritandplace.org/Home,) I was intrigued by the festival’s theme for 2007: Living Generously.  What an interesting topic to tackle.  It made me think about how difficult a concept this is in a time when we seem to be surrounded by rampant consumerism and conspicuous affluence. 

 To help focus this idea, the festival organizers posed these questions:  What constitutes a generous community or neighborhood? How do we welcome the “other” in our midst? What treasures are “hidden in plain sight?” Around Broadway, many answers to these questions quickly come to mind.  This isn’t a new subject around here and I think we have been asking these questions in various forms for a long time. 

Yet, working with our children and youth has given me a new way to see generosity in action.   This past Sunday, we were blessed to see our youth take center stage in our worship service as we welcomed IPS Superintendent, Dr. Eugene White to our pulpit. It was wonderful to see all the young people who took the time to be a part of this wonderful education service.  Between services, I was having a conversation with Kirk Taylor and the subject of the fall confirmation class being that will soon be starting came up.  Kirk, who is now a high school senior offered, “Is there any way I can help with the confirmation class?  Maybe I can help by being someone who’s a little older, between the youth and the adults who are really old!”  My laughter was mingled with amazement at the fact that this young man was willing to share his time and experience so generously.  Kirk took part in the confirmation experience just a few years ago, and now he is ready to start giving back to those following behind in his footstep. Later that morning, I witnessed graciousness and kindness when I had one too many youth ushers on my hands.  My own error had caused the situation and I was struggling to find a way to make the situation right.  As I searched for a solution, Jordan generously said, “that’s OK, I don’t have to do it.”  And miraculously the problem was solved.   

But most of all, I am encouraged to know that the spirit of living generously begins at the youngest of ages.  Our families are encouraging our children to act in selfless ways from the start and our church family provides opportunities to give and share, even for the littlest ones.  At our last Families and Friends pitch-in the children were going through the line at the food table filling their plates.  A fresh fruit platter was a hit with the youngsters.  My daughter, Mari, who was one of the last children in the line got to the fruit, looked up at me sadly and said “there aren’t any more strawberries.”  Without a word or a prompt, 4 year old Andrew reached onto his own plate, removed one of his strawberries, and handed it to Mari.  If that isn’t Living Generously, I don’t know what is.