Years ago in some philosophy course at college I recall reading one author’s prophecy that mankind (so we were called then) will someday have to choose between totalitarianism and charity. Put metaphorically, will the wheels that make the world go around be greased by resources that are taken from us or given by us.
Will we accept some centralized decision-making authority which takes from us what is deemed necessary to keep the world running? Or, will the conduct of global affairs result from our individual voluntary contributions to causes and programs each of us deems worthy of support. Will social engagement be the result of a top-down or bottom-up impetus? Will it promote individual self-expression or restrict it? Limited bondage, or boundless liberty?
Obviously, this is a matter of political science, and one not unrelated to the polarization so evident in our country today. As suggested above, it is also a philosophical question. However, for those of us who recognize the existence of God it is paramountly a religious question.
Each of us is made in the image of God. God is creative love and love cannot help but give of itself (St. Bonaventure’s bonum est diffusivum sui). Innate in us therefore is the urge to reach out, to give. What’s more, we believe that our existence is not chaotic but ordered. It is subject to the divine will which itself is ineffably powered by infinite love and informed by uncreated reason. The more our lives, individual and corporate, are consonant with the divine will the more we realize our human potential. The manner in which we discover and manifest the divine will is through the application of the talents God has given us, for these gifts are given to us for this purpose. Man fully alive (St. Irenaeus) is the will and glory of God. Simply put, the more fully each of us shares the unique gift of himself the more closely God’s will is discerned and implemented. Perhaps the passage in scripture which best illustrates this is the parable of the talents.
Such a world would, of course, be a world governed by charity. The full realization of this Edenic existence will not happen in this age, burdened as we are with original sin. However, our Lord teaches us to implore his Father that “Thy will be done”. Our is to cooperate in this endeavor by making the most of what God has given us.
Part of the mission of the National Catholic Community Foundation is to feature organizations that exemplify this attitude of giving. One group we have come across is the National Council for Adoption (see A Voice From The Vineyard below). This is an association of individuals who use their own ‘talents’ to enable youngsters to grow up in loving, life-promoting households where they will be better able to realize their full potential and contribute to a world fueled by charity.
Given or taken. The difference is profound. One need only consider that life itself is a gift given. Woe to that world whose inhabitants think it is a gift taken.