I heard an analogy this morning which reminded me of another one I had read on Facebook some time back. I would love to share both with you.
The first one is of a rich man who out of self justification more than goodwill, decided to give a poor man who lived near him some food but he only gave him leftovers which were already stale. After he left, the poor man (using his meagre earnings), went out and bought roses, put them in the same bowl and took them to the rich man. The rich man was taken aback and asked the poor man “I gave you food and you bring me flowers?” The poor man smiled and said to the rich man “you gave me stale food but I have given you flowers which are fresh. You have staleness in you but I have freshness and that’s what I have given you.”
The other is from the period of the Berlin wall, when there was East Germany and West Germany. These two were on opposing sides and there was some very bad blood between them. One day, East Germany with an intention of annoying their Western neighbours. collected all manner of garbage from medical waste, industrial waste to domestic waste and piled it on the West Germany side of the wall. When the authorities from West Germany saw this, and were aware of the challenges their Eastern neighbours were facing, went and collected foodstuffs, clothes and medical supplies and piled them on the East Germany side of the wall accompanied by a note :YOU CAN ONLY GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE.
My challenge to all of us is simple; what kind of reflection do our gifts reflect? Giving doesn’t necessarily has to be monetary. It can be words and deeds to other people. Remember, your outside reflects your inside. To read more posts by Mwangi, click HERE
