20090525

on giving

I fear i am too detached from my giving,
for the people i give it to mostly give it away.
What good does that do me?
When i give to those
who give to those
who give to the needy,
am i really giving to the needy?
There's no human face on it.
I never see God do His work with it.
Oh, it's good that i give to those
who give to the needy,
for they do it better than i.
But it means more
when i give to a needy stranger
and look him in the eye.
Or even a needy friend,
if God is the reason why.
If i joyfully, faithfully fund the charities,
that's a good thing to be sure.
But that's not all
that the call to give is for.