Sir Winston Churchill once opined that “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” We all acknowledge that in this world, none of us makes it through alone. All of us treasure memories of the people who contributed positively to our lives: parents, coaches, friends, spouses, teachers – they all gave us so much while asking for little or nothing in return. The simple and wonderful paradox of life is that by helping others we also help ourselves. As we help others to grow physically, emotionally, or spiritually, so do we; for the Bible says, “He who has compassion on others lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his good deed.” Proverbs 20:17
At some point in our lives, all of us struggle with identifying and carrying forward our purpose in life. Heck, if we’re truly honest most of us, regardless of our stage or position in life, struggle with the question: What is my mission on earth? It is a question that each of us must answer in some form, even if we refuse to put it into words, or even if we try not to think about it at all.
The question always remains for us to answer. Consciously or unconsciously, we answer it with our lives. Even if, per chance, we could never give the question a thought, we still will have answered it by the way we live our lives.
In an article published the June/July 2000 issue of Sunrise magazine, author Reginal Machell brilliantly addressed the question that lies at the core of our search for life’s purpose: Am I a giver or a getter?
“There are two great ideals that lead us to the answer as to our purpose in life. First, is the ideal of giving; the second is that of getting. Altruism and egotism, self-sacrifice, and self-aggrandizement: these are the two ideals between which each of us must choose and do choose, whether we do so consciously or not. We all must act in some way. Our acts mirror our life choices. Our life is ultimately a reflection of those choices. What we give, we get. But what is giving and what is getting? And what is it that enables us to choose whether we will be a giver or a getter?
It is said ‘the divine give’ and to become divine we must act divinely. How is this possible if we are but human? The answer is both simple yet complex: If we believe that the Divine is universal, it follows that it is present in everything and every person. But we each can shut our eyes to our own inherent divinity, and we become demanding rather that divine. We become congregants to the church of materialistic science that all getters join, free from the restrictions of natural law (which is the expression of the divine in nature) and not bound by the higher law of the human kingdom.
The divine give, but how can a person give unless he has first gotten something to give? There lies the real point of interest in the whole subject, for it forces us to ask: what can we really get? what do we really own? and what can we give?
Property, wealth, position, are so little ours that in a moment we may lose them all by no fault of our own; nor can we really give these things to others (as all who think deeply know), for there is no real or permanent possession of things possible in the world as we know it.
The only real possession a person can have is that which he has made a part of his own character, a part of himself. A brave person can give courage to others, a cheerful individual can give hope, a generous person can give love, a capable one can give efficiency, a true poet, musician, artist, or orator can give inspiration. A religious person can give devotion or just such other qualities as his religion has developed in him. A person can give what he is because that is all he has to give. And our mission as human beings is to give, because our destiny is to become divine and the divine give. Hence, to give of oneself in service to others, in whatever fashion we can, is how we get to divinity which is the only “get “a true giver desires.”
Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: ‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’
The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. – 2 Corinthians, 9:6-10
Have a divine and AWE-full weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque