As a youth I was advised by an older member of the ward to only carry a checkbook, or credit card because, if you don’t have cash on you, then you won’t have to lie when you say you don’t have any change to spare. At the time I thought this was good advice, and got into the habit of simply not having change with me.
While I was attending school at NAU in Flagstaff AZ, I was approached by an old terribly thin Native American woman. All I could understand through her poor English was that she was hungry. I could see it in her eyes, and hear it in her voice. She was not lying. I turned her away, because I had no cash in my wallet.
Later that night I felt horrible guilt. The weather was not good, and that woman’s coat was thin. Though I had no cash in my wallet, I did have a debit card. I could have taken her into the bagel shop nearby and bought her a bagel. I had the time, and the means. I realized that it was my attitude, my purposeful un-preparedness, that made me unable to see the ways I could help this woman. By emptying my wallet of change, I had emptied my heart of charity. Read the rest of this entry »