Thanksgiving is a good time for taking stock of what we have around us, and appreciating the bounty we are blessed with here in Canada. It is also an ideal time for evaluating how we as individuals are helping those who do not share our wealth, and how best we can recommit ourselves to this cause.
But take heed that, when donating or working to help others, your ego doesn’t get in the way of what good you are trying to do. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines “altruism” as “regard for others as a principle of action,” and it’s worth remembering that actions speak louder-and resonate more with colleagues and recipients alike-than does bragging about your efforts.
What right do we have to expect a charity to mail us a photo of a smiling child wearing our second-hand t-shirt, or to have a school named in honour of a large donation, as if these honorifics were a validation of our gift? This type of tokenism smacks of a colonial attitude towards those we help, and puts us at a higher level than the people receiving our self-gratifying kindness, instead of seeing them as fellow humans who need a helping hand.
Especially considering the holiday weekend we just enjoyed, during which many of us ate heartily with family and friends, we should feel compelled to assist aid efforts at home and abroad-such as the large-scale effort currently underway in Pakistan-for the simple reason that this work needs to get done, and we are the ones who can do it.
Those who donate at all are to be commended, of course. We’re not suggesting that everyone has the means to do so, or that we should feel guilty about what we do have. It’s a great thing when people take any initiative, great or small, instead of saying, “Oh, I’m sure somebody else is taking care of that.”
Of the many laudable reasons for doing the Terry Fox Run or giving to a food bank, one should be the knowledge that you are helping people you will likely never meet, but who just the same have benefited from your existence, just as you have benefited from theirs. This acceptance of anonymity is the death of ego, but ultimately that’s what makes the most sincere gift.
As serious as the issues we face as students may seem, we should remember that, living where we do, we’ve already won the lottery of geography. As such, we have a duty to help those, like the citizens of Pakistan and Southeast Asia, whom fate has not treated so kindly.
But those we help do not have the duty to shower us with pictures of smiling aid recipients. Gratitude-expressed or received-is never a bad thing, but when we can give without expecting to be thanked, and not care if we ever get the credit, we will truly understand what it is to be charitable.
