ONCE there was s poor man who lived by begging. As he sat by the wayside, people tossed at him some coins and grains of rice. These he would take home to buy some firewood and, pouring water into an old pot, he would prepare his meal for the night.

One day, hearing that the ruler of the land was coming his way, he thought he would be lucky to get some copper coins, perhaps even a silver one. When the ruler passed near him, he surprised the beggar when he put out his hand asking for some of his rice. The beggar reluctantly gave him seven grains of rice for which he received a piece of cloth in exchange. The beggar was naturally disappointed.

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That night, when he went back to his hovel to cook his pot of rice, he thought of using the cloth the ruler had given him to sift the grains of rice with. As he opened the piece of cloth, his mouth opened wide at seeing inside the cloth seven gold nuggets. Too late; he wished that he had given the ruler more of his rice.

The things we have been blessed in life with can and should be shared generously. After all God has been so generous in giving, nay, even pouring gifts on his children. We can always, for instance, share our knowledge, love, sense of justice, and efforts toward peace with others. In doing so, the supply will never be diminished. On the contrary, the amount of such spiritual and intellectual gifts will invariably increase, for their source is God himself.

Furthermore, in giving of what we have and have been gifted with, our souls are freed from enslaving self-centeredness. When we give, and give joyfully as well as with generosity, our hearts are blessed, our souls enriched. Our sense of trust will no longer be founded on things but on the Giver of those gifts—God himself.

This is true in the case of the poor widow who gave practically all that she had to God with full knowledge and complete confidence that the Giver of all good things will take care of her.

As an old saying goes, “The man who gives even the little that he has with a smile on his lips and joy in his heart gives much more than a man who gives with pride in his head and a frown in his face.”

When you generously give love and kindness away, they will come back your way abundantly.

“As Jesus sat near the Temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money. A poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others, for the others put in what they had to spare of their riches. But she, poor as she is, put in all she had—she gave all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44