I remember Grandma Rose telling me what it was like living through the great depression. My Grandpa Chet had a steady job as a mechanic at Wisconsin Power and Light Company. She told me how the family never went without food but there were a lot of people who were hurting. She told me how the "bums"- that's the term she used- used to come around to the back door looking for odd jobs. "You'd find something for them to do, rake leaves or clean the gutters or something, then you'd give 'em a bowl of soup and send 'em off with maybe a piece of bread and they'd thank you and be on their way." She was quick to add, "You were never scared- it was just hard times."
I got to thinking the other day how we don't have that kind of charity anymore. Nowadays we write a check to some association or other and we never see the person who receives it. We no longer look someone in the eye and see a fellow traveler in need and share from what we have, knowing it could just as easily be ourselves who have the hat in hand. And what may be even worse is that the person receiving our charity doesn't have to swallow his pride and come begging. He doesn't have to look his benefactor in the eye and walk away thinking, 'When I get back on my feet I'm going to do the same for someone else'.
Grandma told me about the work programs that the government started. "You'd see people out digging ditches and it looked like busy work but you figured, 'at least they're working.'" I guess that was the beginning of what we now call the Welfare State- the idea that somehow the government is supposed to 'do something'. It seems to me the problem with that is you can't look 'The Government' in the eye when you take your hand out. You don't have to walk away thinking, 'now I have to pay this act of kindness forward'. Accepting assistance from the government- as opposed to charity from a person- is somehow less an act of humility. And the virtue of Charity has been replaced by our 'civic duty' and takes the form of paying taxes.
Prosperity has brought great advances in technology and raised the standard of living of a generation of Americans, but it seems to have come at a cost. Given the choice between FDR's Great Society and Grandma's Charity I honestly wonder which is better. Because like Grandma said, "You were never scared- it was just hard times."
Marty, I look at the picture of our grandparents and see their 3 boys (the small one our father) and think I am in for it with my three boys, or perhaps it skips two generations.
ReplyDeleteMarty,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the memory and reflection. Once, I asked my mother Rose for some chickens for a family. (Remember, we had a farm for a while and lived in town). She told me that I could have three chickens, if I caught, killed, and cleaned them. Boy, I hated to go into that chicken coop. WOW, but I went into the stinky coop, snagged a few chickens, swung them one by one up on the stump, picked up the axe and whacked their heads off. Of course, one jumped and wiggled like crazy, so I dropped it and let it loose. It ran all over the place spurting blood. So, we wrapped the dead chicks up in newspaper and drove home to Janesville. Mother taught me to dunk’um in scaling water, pluck the yucky feathers, and tear out the guts. Actually, it wasn't all that bad. The family was delighted, and it really helped. The lessons I learned were threefold; first, that doing is better than 'writing a check' or having someone else (parents) give the chickens, second, I was touched by the gratefulness of the family and lastly, I kind of liked killing those stinky dirty 'old birds'. LOL
So now, I am blessed to be part of a very generous church that tithes 14% of collections to overcoming social injustices. I read grants and help the team decide which organizations have the capacity to feed the poor, address family and child advocacy issues, etc. Yes, and I go to Panera's and pick up the bread and deliver it to soup kitchens. It is not about how much money we give, but how we use our time and talents. Mother used to say, "You are wasting your talents," but she never told me what she meant. So, like you I try to live the way she taught...sharing of time and talent.